A recent State Audit Bureau report on the status of data protection at government websites had warned that the cyber protection at most ministries and other public entities were weak. Unfortunately, most government agencies chose to ignore those warnings.
Now it has come to light that last week the websites of the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) had come under attack from hackers.
The hackers allegedly used security loopholes to enter the PACI computer system and steal personal data files before encrypting the data and resorting to extortion. Hackers were also said to have caused disruption in the e-linking systems between MoI, PACI and PAM, as well as other organizations, repeatedly over the past five days.
The MoI, PACI, and PAM systems are especially attractive to hackers because of their huge databank, which contains confidential information related to bank accounts and other information concerning citizens and residents.
