The Election Commission has suspended the National Identity Card verification services for the paramilitary force Ansar and Village Defence Party and BRAC Bank after detecting evidence of data leaks.
The commission鈥檚 NID Wing director general ASM Humayun Kabir on Wednesday confirmed the decision and told reporters that the suspension came after routine monitoring activities revealed breaches.
鈥榃e found data was leaking from these two institutions and acted promptly by suspending their access as per the authority鈥檚 decision,鈥� he said at a press briefing at the EC headquarters Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon.
Humayun Kabir said that the commission regularly monitored the system, and on Tuesday they detected signs of data leaks from two institutions.
鈥業n light of credible evidence of data leaks, the commission has decided to suspend the verification services of these two institutions temporarily,鈥� Humayun said, adding that a formal investigation was underway.
Earlier in February, after finding data leaks linked to third-party misuse, the EC suspended services to five organisations鈥攖he Directorate General of Health Services, a mobile financial services platform, Chittagong Port Authority, the Department of Women Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance鈥檚 iBAS system.
However, following the suspension by the election commission, BRAC Bank in a statement denied any leak of NID data through its system.聽
The bank claimed that its systems were secure, continuously monitored and capable of blocking any hacking attempts.
In response to the EC鈥檚 move, BRAC Bank immediately launched its own investigation and was working closely with law enforcement agencies to identify and take swift action against any parties responsible, the statement said.