Pakistan finance ministry's data hacked 3 months ago

• Finance ministry of Pakistan's data was hacked three months back
• "Official data about email communication with [...] financial institutions was hacked," says ministry.
• Hacker shared 72GB official data, says social media executive.

ISLAMABAD: Official data containing email communication with friendly countries and financial institutions was hacked three months ago, The News reported citing Pakistan's Ministry of Finance and Revenue.

Aamir Atta, the chief executive of a social media platform, said Tuesday night: "The hacker claimed to have shared 72GB official data with us from 2012 to 2022 having official communication." 

He said that "we verified it and published it later," adding that it was ironic how cyber attacks were rampant, leaking data massively. 

The hacker contacted one social media platform in Pakistan and shared just a sample of data with it. It was verified to be official communication of the finance ministry having sensitive information about many important subjects for Pakistan’s economy and security.

Initially, a ministry spokesperson had rebuffed it and said nothing of the sort had happened. When a senior official was contacted, he said the ministry would issue a statement soon. 

Later, the ministry issued a statement that news was circulating on social media about a hacking attempt and leak of the official data. 

It was clarified that this news item pertains to an incident of hacking reported some three months ago. Thereafter, instant steps had been taken and a thorough cyber security audit was conducted. The veracity of the news was not established.

Meanwhile, the Finance Division has put in place numerous measures and protocols to further reinforce the cyber security of its IT infrastructure and official data, the statement concluded.