The website of state-owned Janata Bank has come under a cyberattack despite being taken offline as a precaution following a global cybersecurity alert.
The bank’s information technology (IT) team is working to address security vulnerabilities after detecting signs of spam and malicious activity in at least two sections of the website.
The website remained inaccessible until 11:30am on Sunday, October 25, even after banking operations resumed following the holiday break.
A senior official from Janata Bank’s IT department said evidence of attacks had been found in two areas of the website. The team was working to identify the vulnerabilities and strengthen security, the official said, expressing hope that the website would be fully secured and restored by the end of Sunday.
The bank could not provide an official comment, as the post of managing director remains vacant. On October 19, the government cancelled the remaining tenure of the bank’s then managing director, Mojibur Rahman. A five-day banking holiday, covering Durga Puja and the weekly holidays, began the following day.
On October 21, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and relevant international organisations issued a joint alert warning of potential cyberattacks worldwide after two serious security vulnerabilities were identified in PHP, a widely used programming language.
The alert warned that hackers could exploit the flaws to execute malicious code remotely on affected servers. It advised organisations to temporarily disconnect vulnerable applications from the internet if security patches or updates could not be installed promptly.
Following the warning, Bangladesh Bank and Janata Bank temporarily took their websites offline from Thursday as an additional security measure.
Bangladesh Bank’s website resumed normal operation on Sunday after the holiday break. Janata Bank’s website, however, remained inaccessible amid a malware infection and unresolved security vulnerabilities.