FTO summons officials in cyber attack probe

Sources said a notice has been issued to officials for fixation of hearing at FTO Headquarters in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has summoned the Revenue Division secretary; Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) CEO and FBR Member (IT) on Wednesday (today) in an investigation into the matter of cyber attack on the bureau’s website and hacking of confidential/classified data of its web-portal.

Sources said that a notice has been issued to the officials for fixation of hearing at the FTO Headquarters in Islamabad.

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According to details, tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt filed a public interest complaint against the officials, contending that either FBR/PRAL official (principal custodian of taxpayer confidential/classified financial record/data) are professionally incapable of protecting the secrecy of Pakistan's taxpayers' record or this debacle is the result of the connivance of PRAL employees.

The FTO ordered an investigation into the matter of cyber attack on the FBR website and hacking of confidential/classified data.