Protect every data to fight cyber crime
Bangladeshi companies should establish proper security shields to protect their official data from cyber attacks, cyber security and audit experts said yesterday.
Every organisation should think about security of their data before awarding the audit work to a chartered accountancy firm, said Luna Shamsuddoha, chairman of Janata Bank.
“Official data should be protected and archived to avoid cyber threats and loss of data,” said Luna, also president of the Bangladesh Women in Technology.
She spoke in a workshop titled “Cyber security for personal and professional safety” organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN) at the CA Bhaban in Dhaka.
The auditors should secure computer networks in their offices so as to prevent intrusions and hacking attempts, Luna said. Companies in Bangladesh will suffer because of the lack of their capacity to handle such threats, she said.
She also urged women to keep their national identity cards in a safe place and not to share passwords with anyone, not even their better halves. In today's digital world, technology influences day-to-day activities of every person, said Dewan Nurul Islam, president of the ICAB.
So people should be more careful while using technology, otherwise they could fall victim to cybercrimes at any time, he said.
“Currently 80 million people are using internet in Bangladesh, so cyber threats may become pervasive just because of a lack of capacity in handling such threats.”
Munir Hasan, general secretary at the BdOSN, and Mohammad Tohidur Rahman Bhuiyan, managing director and CEO of Right Time Limited, jointly presented keynote papers at the workshop. Every minute, about 18 million people are sending text messages, 187 million sending emails and 1 million using Facebook, they said.
Some 78 percent of social media users share and press “like” on news posts without knowledge of its authenticity, they opined.
Organisations should have safer email identities to ensure security to their data, said Hasan of the BdOSN.
The internet network and the digital devices of any workplace should be locked using security codes, he said.
Parents should be more careful about the use of internet by their children because excessive dependency hampers brain development, Lafifa Jamal, chairperson of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Dhaka, said mentioning a study.
People should very carefully select passwords for email or Facebook accounts, she said.
It is a must to create mass awareness on cyber crimes, said Sayed Nasirullah, assistant commissioner of the cyber security and crime division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
More programme should be organised to create awareness on cyber crimes among people, especially women, said Parveen Mahmud, former president of the ICAB.
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