telecom bd

The government launched a new cyber watchdog to check internet crimes after reports suggested that the plotters of last week`s botched coup wanted to use internet facilities to spearhead their campaign to oust the Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina`s government.


`Bangladesh Computer Security Incident Response Team (BD-CSIPT)` started operating Thursday with an aim to secure the country`s information and communication system.

The reports said some serving and retired army officers who allegedly participated in the botched coup plot wanted to social networks like Facebook for their communication and draw support for their campaign to overthrow the government.

"The BD-CSIRT is mainly assigned to identify the sites and persons or institutions who will engage in operating harmful activities against the state, society, political and religious beliefs using the mobile phone, website and different social networking sites," Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman Major Gen (retd) Zia Ahmed told a news agency.

It will also recommend taking punitive measures against the offenders, and in some cases it will take action directly as per the authority given by the telecom act, Ahmed said.

The regulatory body chief said that three cyber crime experts of the BTRC who took training from abroad has already started work in full swing to monitor the country`s cyber world and it would continue relentlessly.

Ahmed said the BD-CSIPT has been formed to ensure the country`s security for information and communication system as different kinds of value-added services like e-banking, e-ticketing and many others have been initiated, which require strong security system.