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In recent news, a cyberattack on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is trying to sell access to its respective systems online. So far, the hackers have no access to the information of the taxpayers which is maintained in a database.
According to an FBR official, the cyberattack affects the FBRs online but so far there has been no compromise on the system that would lead to any data leakage of the Pakistani citizens. However, the hackers have taken control over the tax authority’s system whose access is being sold off for nearly $30,000 on a Russian forum.
Based on a report by Hackread, the hackers managed to breach the Microsoft Hyper-V software and take the website of the FBR including all its subdomains. Moreover, the hackers are also demanding $30,000 from the authorities otherwise they will continue to infect every single device which is linked to the FBR’s server and they transfer the access to interested buyers.
As of now, all of the FBRs website which includes return-filing ‘IRIS’, FBR-Taxray, E-payment, sales tax refund status, the Tax-Assan App, e-registration, income tax registration, refund modules, and customs clearance WEBOC were non-functional. In addition, taxpayers were unable to file their income tax returns, withholding statements, and monthly sale tax returns on Sunday.
The identity of these mysterious hackers is unknown and is still yet to be determined.
