Haque Specialized Group's News

No bank in Bangladesh is ready to recover from a sudden data centre collapse due to natural calamities while most not even capable of turning around instantly from a major digital shutdown, a survey finds.   The stunning revelation was made Sunday at a workshop on cyber-threat readiness of banks, based on a recent industry-wide study on the state of cyber-security of banks in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) organised the workshop in the capital, where the event of Bangladesh Bank's reserve stealing by an international gang of hackers and its aftermath came up prominently. "Only 20 banks out of 56 have the capacity to recover from a major shutdown like corruption of database and storage-or data-centre damage caused by fire," said Abul Kashem Md. Shirin, Managing Director and CEO of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited. "Meanwhile, there is not a single bank which can recover from Data Centre or near Data Centre collapse due to earthquake, flood or cyclone," he cautioned, on the basis of the results of the industry-wide research. The findings show that while all the banks in the country are ready to overcome any simple breakdown caused by the malfunctioning of server, network equipment or UPS, majority of them are not capable of tackling any major cyber-threat. The workshop also identified various dimensions of threats or forgeries that can occur within the space of mobile financial services, ATM, Point of Sales (PoS), e-commerce or credit and debit card. "One good example of such threat is rampant digital hundi through MFS which resulted in 17 per cent fall in remittance last year," Shirin said.   "In addition, card cloning, ATM skimming and e-commerce-related frauds are also becoming quite prevalent, which can be a cause of major headache for the banking industry," he added. The DBBL Managing Director, however, finds a blessing in disguise for the bankers in Bangladesh. He said as the Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) is non-convertible, the country is not quite attractive to the hackers for targeting banks and financial entities. "That is why Bangladesh has witnessed relatively few instances of financial cyber-crime, although SWIFT is a 'hole' through which attackers can transfer US Dollar."    Focusing on the global scenario of cyber-crime, it was informed in the workshop that around one billion accounts and records were compromised around the world in 2016 while the total cost of ransomware attacks during the year was US$ 1.0 billion. "It is estimated that cyber-crime damages will cost US$ 6.0 trillion globally by 2021 from US$ 3.0 trillion back in 2015," said Amirul I. Chowdhury, CEO of Trans IT Solution. Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, who attended the event as chief guest, said the central bank is currently emphasizing the establishment of comprehensive IT governance and IT risk-management frameworks. Referring to the US$ 81 million central bank heist last year, the BB Governor said the event was a severe wakeup call for the entire banking industry in Bangladesh. "Since then, Bangladesh Bank has already worked to strengthen its IT security and IT risk management while we have also ensured new ICT-security guidelines for banks and FIs," he told the function about the cyber-safety measures being taken following the stunning  theft of Bangladesh's reserves from the US Reserve Bank in New York. Chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Anis A Khan and BIBM Director-General Dr. Toufic Ahmad Choudhury also spoke.  mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03

The Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has urged the government to refrain from making any law that is contrary to the freedom of expression and freedom of press. It also called upon the government to abolish the 'controversial' section 57 of Information and Communications Technology Act and withdraw all the cases filed against journalists under the section. The platform of newspaper owners made the appeal at a meeting held at Prothom Alo office in city on Saturday, with NOAB president Matiur Rahman in the chair, said a press statement on Sunday. The NOAB expressed its deep concern over the incorporation of similar provision of section 57 of the ICT act in the proposed Digital Security Act and online media policy. It urged the government not to make any step that goes against the freedom of expression, as has been protected by the country's constitution. Expressing concern over the attacks and cases filed against journalists in different parts of the country, the association urged the government to take effective steps to stop the same. "Interference in the freedom of expression is also an attack on the newspaper industry," NOAB said. bdsmile@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03

Asian stocks slipped on Monday as demand for riskier assets ebbed after their recent strong gains, while the European Central Bank's apparent equanimity at the euro's two-year highs left the dollar languishing. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.9 per cent, pressured by a stronger yen. Chinese shares bucked the trend, with bluechips up 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite advancing 0.2 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4 per cent. Australian shares retreated 1 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI edged down 0.1 per cent. On Friday, global stocks ended a 10-day winning streak, taking a breather from a rally that had propelled them to a record high in the previous session. The declines continued on Monday, with the index marginally lower. Wall Street indexes ended Friday flat to about 0.15 per cent lower, as disappointing earnings from General Electric and energy shares weighed. European shares also closed lower, with Germany's DAX slumping 1.7 per cent, dragged lower by the euro's strength. The euro was trading slightly higher at $1.1669 on Monday, just a whisker below a two-year high of $1.1684 hit earlier in the session. ECB President Mario Draghi's comments on Thursday, which conspicuously avoided citing the euro's recent strength as a problem, emboldened traders convinced the central bank will begin tapering its bond-buying program later this year. "There has been very little back-pedaling on the long euro storyline as dealers continue to place much emphasis on Draghi declining the opportunity to talk down the currency post-ECB minutes," Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA, wrote in a note. "And factoring in the expanding US political sinkhole which is weighing on broader USD sentiment, it's unlikely the market has run out of steam," he wrote, adding he expects the euro to test the August 2015 high of $1.1715 "sooner than later". The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade-weighted peers, crept higher but remained subdued on Monday. After touching 93.823, its lowest level since June 2016 early on Monday, it edged up to 93.908, marginally above Friday's close. The dollar continued to slide against the yen, however, retreating 0.1 per cent to 111.01 yen. Markets are awaiting the Federal Reserve's meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday for an update on its plan to start normalising its balance sheet. "All eyes will be on the Fed this week, with market participants eager to see if the Fed formally announces the start of its balance sheet normalisation plan or opts to wait until September," Michala Marcussen, global head of economics at Societe Generale, wrote in a note. "We are in the September camp, but we acknowledge that it is a coin toss between this week's meeting and the next one." In commodities, oil remained pressured by a consultant's forecast of a rise in OPEC production for July despite the group's pledge to curb output, reviving concerns about oversupply. But expectations that the joint OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting later in the day would address rising production from Nigeria and Libya, two OPEC members exempted from the cuts, bolstered prices. Global benchmark Brent crude added 0.3 per cent to $48.19 a barrel, after Friday's 2.5 per cent tumble, while US crude edged up 0.2 per cent to $45.85, after Friday's 2.2 per cent slump. Gold shone on the dollar's weakness and a decline in risk appetite, with spot gold just slightly lower at $1,253.61 an ounce, retaining most of Friday's 0.8 per cent jump, and scarcely below a one-month high hit earlier.  ....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03

Police in a drive arrested five robbers from different areas of the Sharsha upazila f Jessore district on Sunday. The arrestees were Ali Hossain, 42, son of Omed Ali of Bonmandar village of the upazila, Sohel Rana, 27, son of Abdul Malek, Kamrul Islam, 20, son of Habibur Rahman, Hridoy Hossain Tagor, 22, son of Saheb Ali, and Faruk Hossain, 22, son of Ayb Ali, residents of Bollah village in Jhaikargachha upazila, reports UNB. Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Sharsha Police Station, said a gang of robber looted valuables including cash Tk one lakh, gold ornaments, four mobile phone sets, and three passports from the house of expatriate Jahangir Alam in Kanainagar area early in the morning. Later, his wife Amirunnesa filed a case. Police conducted the drive from morning to night and arrested five robbers along with two pistols, two rounds of bullet, three bombs, three sharp weapons, four mobile phones, and three passports, the OC added.....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in the western part of Kabul on Monday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 10, and the death toll could rise, an Interior Ministry spokesman in the Afghan capital said. Police cordoned off the area, located near the house of the deputy government Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq in a part of the city where many of the mainly Shi'ite Hazara community live, but they said the target of the attack was so far unclear. Acting Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said at least 12 people had been killed and 10 wounded but the casualty toll could rise further. The latest suicide bombing adds to the unrelenting violence in Afghanistan, where at least 1,662 civilians were killed in the first half of the year. It came two weeks after the Islamic State group claimed an attack on a mosque in the capital that killed at least four people. Kabul has accounted for at least 20 per cent of all civilian casualties this year, including at least 150 people killed in a massive truck bomb attack at the end of May, according to United Nations figures. It also coincides with the US administration weighing up its strategic options for Afghanistan, including the possibility of sending more troops to bolster the training and advisory mission already helping Afghan forces.....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03