Beyond the unlawful access to the system, the hackers also knew they would be able to override the locked/holds on these shipments by paying the highest duty rate (25%) in the tariff within the system. In Bangladesh, these 30 containers were identified as suspicious and locked by the Central Intelligence Cell and Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate. In the article referenced, there appears to be a design flaw and an ability in ASYCUDA World -where holds/locked shipments placed by Customs can be released or cleared by paying the maximum duty owed per the Tariff. The following is an overview of the ASYCUDA Clearance Process. Sri Lanka police find explosives at ISIS video location.Sri Lanka imposes extended curfew after security forces found ISIS flags and explosives.Explosives and other armaments must be smuggled into the country somehow, and these links suggest local law enforcement authorities found stashes of explosives, weapons, and ammunition that likely entered that country illegally: The possibilities are endless and disconcerting especially after the recent attacks in Sri Lanka by terrorists.
It also raises significant concerns regarding the system’s ability to protect confidential and proprietary corporate information submitted by traders to Customs Administrations.Ĭan you imagine what was smuggled into the country in 30 containers in this instance? That could be as much as 900 tonnes of cargo and include any number of threats such as weapons, ammunition, explosives, hazardous materials, narcotics, stowaways and illegal migrants, dual use goods, chemical weapons pre-cursors and much more. The only thing being strengthened here is a smugglers’ ability to bypass Customs decisions.
If anyone is protecting the weaknesses in ASYCUDA, it’s certainly not the ASYCUDA programme or the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). This system is not designed or built by experts, let alone anyone with expertise in security at application or database layers. While the Finance Minister stated that ASYCUDA World needed to be more protected, ASYCUDA users must face the facts. On March 27th, 2019 the Bangladesh Finance Minister announced a successful hacking attempt on ASYCUDA World.īased on the news report, it appears that due to weak security protocols, external hackers were able to penetrate ASYCUDA World and override decisions made by Customs in the system to allow for the release and clearance of over 30 inter-modal containers into the country.Īs a major lapse in border security, this not only raises concerns in Bangladesh, but for every other country using this rudimentary import processing system.
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