Punishment sought for criminal attacks, extortion and network seizure in internet industry

The Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) has strongly condemned and protested against the recent criminal attacks, vandalism, looting, extortion and network seizure in the country's internet service sector.

At a press conference organized at the ISPAB office in Banani on Sunday (June 14), the leaders of the organization condemned and protested such incidents. At that time, they demanded punishment for those involved.

The speakers at the press conference said that on the night of June 9, such attacks were carried out on various ISP institutions in and outside Dhaka, including the head office of Dot Internet located in Lalmatia in the capital.

Among those, vandalism and looting occurred at several internet service providers in Badda, Chandpur Sadar, Debidwar in Cumilla, Gazipur and Bogura. According to ISPAB, these activities are not just an attack on an organization, but a direct attack on the country's information technology infrastructure and digital economy.

The press conference also informed that during the attack, a group of miscreants entered the offices of various organizations and carried out extensive vandalism and looting. Several officials and employees were injured and important technological equipment and infrastructure were damaged.

ISPAB President Mohammad Aminul Hakim, Secretary General Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan, Vice President Neyamul Haque Khan, Joint Secretary General Mahbub Alam Raju, Joint Secretary General Fuad Mohammad Sharfuddin, Treasurer Moin Uddin Ahmed, Director Rashedur Rahman Rajan, Md. Mithu Howlader, Sabbir Ahmed, Raisul Islam Tuhin, Md. Zubair Islam and SM Saiful Islam Selim were present at the press conference.

The leaders said that the ISP sector is playing an important role in providing uninterrupted internet services to crores of customers in the country. Such attacks have raised deep concerns about the security of the sector, investment environment and continuity of services.

At the press conference, ISPAB raised several demands to the authorities concerned. Those are:

1. Those involved in the attacks must be identified and arrested quickly.

2. Exemplary punishment must be ensured against the criminals.

3. Security must be strengthened by considering IT and Internet infrastructure as important national assets.

4. Effective measures must be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

5. Necessary assistance must be provided to ensure the safe operation of the affected organizations.

6. Local police stations must take prompt action in such incidents at ISP organizations.

According to ISPAB, ensuring the security of the IT sector is very important in the current era of digital transformation and technology-based economy of the country. Otherwise, there may be a negative impact on investment and services.

The organization expressed the hope that the government and law enforcement agencies will take prompt action to ensure a fair investigation and trial of the incident and play an effective role in the safe development of the country's IT sector.