FBR matters

There appears to be no end to controversies with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). In the latest reshuffle the government has removed yet another chairperson of the apex tax collecting body in the country – and appointed the sixth person (in three years) in this position. This follows the largest cyber attack in the country's history, where according to reports on Friday night, data of various kinds was accessed from the FBR system. The data on the FBR website includes the personal financial information and other personal details of thousands of people in the country as well as sensitive information pertaining to the government. Following the crisis, the special assistant to the PM on finance and revenue has stepped down, apparently due to differences with the finance minister. It may be noted that Shaukat Tarin is the fourth finance minister in the last three years under the PTI.

More relevant is the question of the hacking and when the details about what had happened were provided to senior officials by the FBR. A major intelligence agency had previously warned the FBR that its data could be hacked, and that their system was insecure. Despite this it appears no action was taken, beyond monitoring the data. Rumours -- which have been denied by the FBR -- that pirated software was apparently being used are disturbing to say the least. Meanwhile, the finance minister has assured that the system is back to normal and not much has been affected. However, we do not know the nature of the data that was hacked into, who it affects, how many people were involved in the list of those whose data was hacked, and precisely how the attack took place. There is some talk of enemies being involved, but there is not much beyond that. The most pertinent issue is how the FBR data could have been vulnerable to a digital attack.

Rather than taking appropriate policy measures, the government appears to be organizing musical chair games for the top brass in its economic and financial management. With this merry-go-round, the management of the FBR has clearly failed to achieve the desired results. A quick succession of chairpersons means the FBR could find it hard to fulfil the promises made to the IMF in which it plans to raise Rs5.8 trillion in FY22 against Rs4.7 trillion collected in FY21. Changing faces appears to be the main strategy of the government in the wake of such unfortunate events. However, we also need to do much more. The system used by organisations needs to be investigated, and IT officers appointed where required to safeguard data and ensure the protective software and other safeguards are up to date and inviolable. When this does not happen, there are bound to be problems. The hacking issue certainly needs to be taken further and the full facts put before the public, which has the right to know when data consisting of information about trillions of rupees falls into hands to whom it should not be available.