BTRC Initiates Countermeasures Against Advanced Cyber Extortion And Identity Spoofing
Voice Cloning And Number Hacking Target Lawmakers
- Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni alerted Parliament to syndicated voice cloning, mobile takeovers, and digital document forgery targeting lawmakers for extortion
- Deputy Speaker advocated for institutional cybersecurity frameworks, while regulatory body BTRC commenced technical countermeasures to trace breaches
- Lawmakers were urged to strictly comply with facial recognition biometric access c
DHAKA: Synthetic voice cloning algorithms, telecommunication identity theft, and application hijacking have surfaced as emerging cyber threats targeting members of parliament. Chief Whip of the National Parliament Nurul Islam Moni raised these technical vulnerabilities during an unscheduled floor discussion on Thursday, September 10, 2026, within the third session of the 13th Parliament. Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal presided over the sitting.
The Chief Whip disclosed that on Wednesday, September 9, three parliamentarians reported that extortion requests demanding BDT 50,000, BDT 30,000, and BDT 25,000 had been broadcast through their registered mobile credentials. Immediate technical efforts to re-establish authenticated communications with the respective lawmakers failed, indicating unauthorized device or network takeovers by malicious actors.
Highlighting the sophistication of these cyber vectors, Nurul Islam Moni stated that attackers are deploying generative artificial intelligence for deepfake voice synthesis alongside high-resolution signature forgery to construct fraudulent documents. Lawmakers spanning treasury and opposition benches have reportedly encountered these cyber exploits. He underlined the urgency of disseminating threat advisories through media channels to elevate broader public awareness.
Addressing the assembly, Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal asserted that individual victims cannot be held liable for sophisticated attack vectors like deepfake voice cloning or network spoofing. He emphasized that the state apparatus and executive authorities bear the structural mandate to enforce national cyber defenses and requested an overview of administrative mitigations. The Chief Whip confirmed that inter-agency consultations were convened on Wednesday, leading the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to initiate forensic tracking and automated preventative countermeasures across telecommunication gateways.
Concurrently, parliamentary access security was addressed with instructions concerning biometric compliance. Nurul Islam Moni observed that despite the operational deployment of facial recognition sensors across parliamentary lobbies, several members bypass the digital authentication terminals. He called upon all parliamentarians to adhere strictly to facial biometric verification during chamber ingress and formal egress at the conclusion of daily legislative sessions.
//DBTech/FNS/SME/MIST//
