17th Feb 2021, Kathmandu
Vianet Communications, an Internet service provider was found to be free of regulatory consumer data theft.
Last year, the data of Vianet’s customers was made public by hackers. Sensitive data of more than 50,000 customers was leaked and made public.
Thousands of e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, and customer locations have been leaked due to Vianet’s insecure security system and security vulnerabilities.
However, it has been reported that the telecommunications regulator has left Vianet, an internet service provider, without taking any action.
The hacker involved in the incident was arrested by the Nepal Police with the help of the company’s complaint and regulatory body, but the company was acquitted even though it impacted customers due to its failure in the incident.
According to the NTA, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has cut off the release letter to alert the company to the hacked customer data.
By sending a letter to the company last December, NTA saved the company by sending only a general warning letter without taking any action.
NTA has warned the company not to take any action in this regard without presenting any details for its investigation.
If Vianet does not take action in such cases, the data of the company’s customers may be leaked again tomorrow.
According to the report, the incident has been settled for a long time. NTA also believes that Vianet had affected NTA’s top officials in the incident.
‘The owners of Vianet may have had very close relations with the authorities, but no action has been taken. Other ISPs may have been charged and fined,’ the source said.
NTA sources said it would be difficult to take action against others tomorrow as the authority could not take action against other small ISPs, except in regular accidents and vulnerabilities.
In such cases, according to international practice, companies that have leaked data are held responsible and the company has taken action against customers for stealing or hacking customer data.
The most dramatic example of this is the acts and fines imposed on Facebook by different countries. In which the data of Facebook users has been used and leaked by other companies.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom, in the case of hacking the data of Marriott Hotel’s clients, the company was subject to security reforms, including fines.
