Palak: Using VPN increases cyber security risk

State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has warned that using VPNs increases cyber security risk.

He made these remarks during a press conference following an exchange meeting on cyber security at the ICT Tower in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Tuesday.

Palak expressed concern about potential major cyber attacks on various public and private institutions, including the banking sector and the garment industry.

He said: “Over 50,000 attacks have been attempted in the last 10 days to damage eight websites. Additionally, the websites of 70 educational institutions in the country were also attacked. We will form a coordinated committee to address this issue. Those who attend the meeting will take action accordingly.”

The state minister added: “So far, there has been no attack on the Bangladesh Bank’s website. Cyber attackers have not been able to extract any important information from any website. Reviewing the current scenario of cyber security, we fear attacks in four major sectors – the banking sector, the garment industry, the telecom sector, and the power and energy sector.”

“There are 35 important information infrastructures in our country, but the sad fact is that except for eight institutions, the rest are not ensuring proper security,” he added.

Advising government institutions to conduct regular security audits, Palak said: “Using VPNs increases cyber risks. Organizations have already been warned not to use unlicensed pirated software. If any organization falls victim to a cyberattack, they should immediately report it to the ICT department.”

Representatives from 35 Key Point Installations (KPI) institutions in the country participated in the meeting with Palak.