A man was arrested recently by FIA Punjab cyber-crime department as he was found faking the identity of NAB chairman and using his email address to blackmail other government officials.
According to sources, a local Basharat Aziz, had allegedly hacked the email account of the NAB chairman. At being reported for various fraudulent activities, he was arrested after a raid in Sahiwal.
The vulnerability of government systems has not been exposed for the first time as faking the identity of government officials has become a regular practice now. Many cases have been reported earlier of almost similar nature where individuals have pretended to be ministers, judges, lawyers, and other officials.
Also Read: Iraqi hacker defaces Donald Trump’s web presence
These individuals scammed the system and took the liberty to forge individual identities. The growing nature of such cases highlights major flaws of the system and raises concerns about the security of the state systems. In addition, it also indicates that government’s documents and processes are at risk.
The hacking case
The accused had hacked the official email address of NAB chairman and illegally used it to blackmail different government officers. This was reported by FIA in their report as they received a complaint from NAB office Islamabad. Ashir Aroon, the officer who is heading the investigation said that they received a cue that enabled them to follow the trail and arrest the guy.
Basharat Aziz is an IT expert by profession and has been involved in many other scams especially email account hacking. In the current case, the culprit hacked the account of NAB chairman and blackmailed the director of Bahauddin Zakaria University to send him money. He has also conducted similar scams and demanded money from other government officials as well.
Quick Read: 5 ZTBL officials defraud millions after using ghost farmers name
However, it is still unclear if Aziz is working on an individual basis or operating as a part of a larger blackmailing group.
This case indicates that there are serious issues in the security system of Pakistani government as any IT expert is able to easily hack the official email account of such a senior and significant official. It is beyond doubt that the government has to mend its security arrangement, in particular, the online domain. Stressing on the gravity of the matter, such email addresses could be used for bigger crimes that pose major threats to national security rather than mere blackmail for money.
