Personal information of millions of Bangladeshis `leaked`

Various personal information including NID number, email address, phone numbers and names of many Bangladeshis have been leaked from the government websites.

South African-based international cyber security affairs agency Bitcrack Cyber Security researcher Viktor Markopoulos made the claim.

Markopoulos said he found leaked data all of a sudden on 27 June and he immediately contacted the team of Bangladesh e-Government Computer Incident Response.

US online media platform TechCrunch has verified the authenticity of this news. They have found various information in the leaked database. The information includes names of persons who applied for registration and names of parents of some people.

BGDe-govt support project director Saiful Alam Khan told that they are working on the matter.

TechCrunch did not mention the website from which the information was leaked.

Markopoulos said the information is available online. TechCrunch sent e-mails to several government agencies to convey the news of leaked data. None of the agencies have responded.

In Bangladesh, citizens of 18 years and above are given NID. Children's birth registration is also carried out. NID must be displayed for various services including driving licences, passports, land purchase and opening bank accounts.

TechCrunch contacted BGD e-govt Stat, government press offices, Bangladesh embassy in Washington DC and Bangladesh consulate in New York City. But they did not get any response.

Markopoulos said information is being found easily. The researcher told TechCrunch, "The information appeared naturally during searching in Google. He didn't try to find the information."

Personal e-mails, phone numbers and NID numbers generally are at risk of leak.

Read More