Personal data of 2.7 million Pakistanis ‘stolen’ from government records, probe finds

Islamabad, Mar 27 (EFE) – An investigation has revealed that personal information of more than 2.7 million Pakistanis has been “stolen” from the records of a government-run body that regulates the database of citizens.

A government official said on Wednesday that a team was formed to probe the data leak from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office.

The report indicated “that data of more than 2.7 million Pakistanis has been compromised from Nadra’s records between 2019 and 2023,” an interior ministry official told EFE on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

“The concerned officials at the interior ministry are reviewing the contents of the report,” said the official.

Pakistan’s largest English daily, Dawn, reported that the probe team found Nadra offices in Karachi, Multan, and Peshawar allegedly involved in the data leak.

The stolen data was allegedly sent to Dubai, from where it was later sold in Argentina and Romania, the news report further disclosed, quoting sources.

The government formed the JIT after a cybersecurity incident in March 2023.

In its report, the probe team has recommended an upgrade of technology, as well as departmental and criminal proceedings against those found responsible for the data breach.

The issue of the vulnerability of Nadra’s data had been raised in the past but gained prominence only after the disclosure of an information leak about certain senior military officials.

In October 2022, personal data and travel records of Gen. Asim Munir and his family were allegedly accessed by some Nadra officers to prevent his appointment as the chief of army staff in November of the same year.

Nadra conducted an investigation and initiated criminal proceedings against six of its officials for their alleged involvement in unauthorized access to Gen. Munir’s family’s data.

In November 2021, a panel from the National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament, was informed that the personal data of millions of Pakistanis might have been compromised, allegedly due to weaknesses in Nadra’s security framework.

In November last year, Nadra announced that it had canceled more than 18,000 national identity cards illegally issued to foreigners, most of them Afghans. The authority had initiated a process to identify its officials involved in issuing those cards to foreign nationals. EFE

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