Staff Reporter :A government probe body formed to investigate into the $101 million cyber heist from Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Wednesday submitted its interim report to Finance Minister AMA Muhith recommending formation of a strong cyber-security unit in the central bank.It also recommended several measures to prevent such incidents in the future, sources in the finance ministry said.The three-member panel, led by former central bank governor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin, handed over the report to the finance minister around 6:15pm at his Secretariat office in the capital.The two other members of the committee are Mohammad Kaykobad, a teacher of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at BUET, and Gokul Chand Das, Additional Secretary of the Bank and Financial Institutions Division. “Yes I received the report today. I have nothing to say about the report right now. I would make comment after going through it,” Muhith told reporters after receiving the report. “We have submitted an interim report today (Wednesday) as per the terms of reference (TOR) of the probe body,” Dr Mohammed Farashuddin told The New Nation on Wednesday evening. “A full report on the issue is expected to be submitted by the stipulated timeframe,” he added.When asked about the content of the report, Dr Farashuddin remained tightlipped and said that they are not authorised to talk over the issue. The ministry concerned may come out with the disclosure soon.The government formed the committee on March 15 after media reports revealed that suspected Chinese hackers broke into the central bank’s online systems and stole the money from its account held with the New York Federal Reserve Bank on February 5.The committee was asked to submit an interim report in 30 days and the full report in 75 days.The committee was asked to investigate how the illicit payment instructions went to the Federal Reserve from the BB and how the central bank might stop such instructions and why the central bank kept the theft secret from the finance ministry for more than one month.It was also asked to probe whether there was any irresponsibility on the part of central bank officials in the incident and if any central bank official was involved in the theft.
