BB website remains offline amid global cyber alert

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has kept its website offline for a second consecutive day as a precautionary measure following a global cybersecurity alert, while its connections with commercial banks remain unaffected.

The central bank took the website offline on Thursday afternoon after receiving the alert and is continuing to monitor the situation to ensure its security.

Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, said the central bank had not restored the website to ensure its full security.

He said the connections between the central bank and commercial banks were operating smoothly.

The central bank's IT department was working on the issue, but no specific timeline was given for restoring the website.

The website remained inaccessible until 8.44pm today, displaying a maintenance notice to visitors.

Visitors see a notice reading: "The Service is under Maintenance. Our service is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance. We will be back online shortly. Thank you for your patience."

The move came amid global concerns over critical vulnerabilities disclosed in PHP, a widely used programming language.

Cybersecurity firms Calif and Wiz identified the flaws using artificial intelligence tools. Although patches were released, details of the vulnerabilities became public before the fixes could be fully applied.

The government has also issued warnings over the global cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Bangladesh Bank has faced major cyber incidents in the past. In 2016, hackers diverted $101 million from the central bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, leading to the resignation of then governor Atiur Rahman.

In 2023, the central bank temporarily shut down some internal web-based services for 36 hours as a precaution against a possible cyberattack.