News / Persian Gulf

Hackers leak financial info of Qatari ruling Al Thani family

Wednesday, 27 April 2016 9:49 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 28 April 2016 2:18 AM ]

QNB Group HQ Building in Doha

Hackers have reportedly released bank passwords and sensitive data of Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family, intelligence agency members, and employees of Al Jazeera television network.

The leak occurred following an alleged security breach at the Qatar National Bank (QNB) and is said to contain the information of some thousands of the banks customers.

The 1.5-gigabyte trove of internal documents, files, and sensitive financial information was anonymously posted online. It also holds a folder named “SPY, Intelligence” which contains records attributed as Ministry of Defense, MI6, and Qatar's State Security Bureau, also known as Mukhabarat.

An Al Jazeera reporter confirmed that his information was present in the leak and that he was shocked to find his information online.

“The details they had for me were mostly correct – I had changed my credit cards just a few months ago after losing them, but other information such as my passwords and contact details were all accurate,” he said.

QNB has refrained from confirming the leak, but has posted a statement online saying that it is looking into the matter.

"It is QNB Group policy not to comment on reports circulated via social media. QNB would like to take this opportunity to assure all concerned that there is no financial impact on our clients or the bank. QNB Group places the highest priority on data security and deploying the strongest measures possible to ensure the integrity of our customers' information. QNB is further investigating this matter in coordination with all concerned parties." said the statement.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk