Bangladesh Biman’s email server hacked

Authorities have launched a probe into the hacking of the email server of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, five days after the cyber-attack.

According to government officials, Biman Bangladesh has been unable to recover its server from the hackers’ control, who have threatened to leak confidential information unless they are paid ransom as per their demand within 10 days.

The incident has left Biman unable to make internal and external communications, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali told journalists while addressing the press during an event in a Dhaka hotel on Wednesday.

“A probe committee has already been formed,” he said without providing any further details.

Answering to a query, he said authorities were not yet sure if any information had been leaked due to the cyber-attack.

According to Biman Bangladesh sources, the national flag carrier’s email server came under the hacker’s attack last Friday, leaving employees unable to make any communications.

Besides, there is a risk of the airline’s confidential information related to internal purchase, scheduling and billing getting leakes.

Hackers attacked the server using ransomware, a form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable.

Whenever Biman employees attempt to open any files from the server, they are shown a message from the hackers asking for ransom.

According to Biman officials, Hackers have given them a 10-day ultimatum to pay a huge amount of ransom to free the server. Otherwise, they have threatened to leak sensitive information, which can harm Biman’s business.

This is not the first time the website of a state-owned organisation has come under cyber-attack. In April 2018, hackers launched a massive attack on the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangabhaban, home affairs ministry, etc.

Prior to that, in one of the biggest cyber heists in history, hackers broke into the Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and stole over $81 million using 35 fake SWIFT, a global communication network for banks and financial institutions, in February 2016.

Of the stolen money, $66 million in reserves stolen eight years ago has yet to be recovered.