Janata Bank website remains offline after cyberattacks

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Janata Bank’s website remained inaccessible on Sunday despite being taken offline as a precaution against potential cyber threats, as the bank’s IT team worked to repair damage caused by two suspected attacks.

Spam was detected in at least two sections of the website, preventing officials from restoring public access. The site was still unavailable at 11:30am.

A senior official from the bank’s IT department told bdnews24.com that signs of two cyberattacks had been detected and that repairs were taking time. The official hoped the website would be operational by the end of Sunday.

The bank’s managing director could not be reached for comment, as the position is currently vacant. The government cancelled the appointment of managing director Mujibur Rahman for the remainder of his tenure on October 19.

Government offices and the banking sector then began a five-day holiday for Durga Puja the following day.

Amid concerns about potential global cyberattacks, Janata Bank and Bangladesh Bank took their websites offline from Thursday as a precaution.

Bangladesh Bank restored access to its website on Sunday, the first working day after the holiday. Janata Bank, however, remained unable to bring its website back online.

The precautionary shutdown followed a warning from the European Union’s cybersecurity agency after two serious security vulnerabilities were identified in PHP, a widely used programming language. The agency advised temporarily taking potentially affected websites offline if security updates could not be applied promptly.

Following the warning, both Bangladesh Bank and Janata Bank shut down their websites as a preventive measure.

Meanwhile, the websites of other state-owned banks, including Sonali, Agrani, Rupali and Bangladesh Small Industries and Commerce Bank PLC (BASIC Bank), remained operational.