AFTER the dramatic Kishoreganj robbery and the Hall-Mark scandal, yet another blow to the banking sector has been unleashed by the same institution – Sonali Bank, the country’s largest state-owned bank. Hackers have stolen a stunning amount of 250,000 US dollars from the scam-ridden Bank by hacking into the security password of the state-run bank’s server, a top official of the Finance Ministry disclosed recently. According to them unidentified intruders broke into the bank’s server and transacted $250,000 to their accounts in the middle of last year.
The hacking was done in September last while Sonali Bank’s corporate branch at Shilpa Bhaban was transferring the amount to the United Kingdom through SWIFT wires on behalf of its client in Bangladesh. London based hackers robbed the money. The bank luckily escaped another hacking attempt, as there was no cash in the account from which the hackers tried to steal money.
The hacking incidence happened in the state-owned Sonali Bank which is already widely known for the largest loan scam in the country’s history. In May 2012, a report from the Bangladesh Bank mentioned that the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch of Sonali Bank, illegally lent Tk 36.48 billion (US$460 million) in loans between 2010 and 2012. The largest share, of Tk 26.86 billion (US$340 million), went to the Hall-Mark Group.
Even in between the revelation of the hacking incidence and Hall-Mark scam, the staggering news had shocked the nation. Earlier this year, Tk 16.4 crore was robbed by digging a tunnel from Sonali Bank’s Kishoreganj branch, which was set up at an insecure location. The passageway was found to have been dug from an adjacent building.
Several information technology experts said hacking of SWIFT security system and password was not possible unless bank officials were involved in the cyber-theft. The experts said they never heard about any instance of the hacking of SWIFT passwords. The system is considered very secure and safe, as only SWIFT clients have access to the system, according to them.
There must be something seriously wrong going on and all is not well with Sonali Bank management. One after another scandal is unfolding from Sonali Bank and bank bosses, government officials and regulatory authorities are giving lip service by using the same old monotonic words that the bank should be vigilant for the future.
Apparently this method of self-monitoring and security system is not functioning. The state-run bank has given so many bad loans that its nonperforming loans stood at 28 percent of its total loans at the end of December last year against an average of less than 9 percent in the industry. It is high time that Bangladesh Bank and Finance Ministry seriously rethought about reshuffling the Sonali Bank management top to bottom.
Moreover, it is not only an exclusive problem of Sonali Bank at all. A great deal of money is stolen through online frauds each year. Country’s financial institutions are now open to the greater risk, as they are gradually computerizing whole of their systems. So particular and due attention has to be devoted to prevent online bank frauds from being perpetrated.
