The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has vehemently denied the allegations of a data breach levelled by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s traders and industrialists.

Sarhad Chamber of Commerce President Muhammad Ishaq, in a joint press conference with industrialists in Peshawar, on January 5, alleged that the FBR data had been leaked and personal details of business community were now available to extortionists who were threatening them.

“It is clarified that the taxpayers’ declarations are appropriately protected at several layers of security through the use of cutting-edge technologies,” the FBR clarified in a statement, saying that cybersecurity defences in place not only “prevent hacking attempts to the FBR network but also alert the IT teams and take remedial actions round the clock”.

“FBR has also conducted discrete inquiries into the allegations and contacted Mr. Muhammad Ishaq President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and local businessmen / industrialists. It has transpired that the alleged information (family tree, name of the schools, current balances in the bank account, details of arms and ammunition, current year’s sale / transfer of property) quoted in the news item is not available in the tax declarations,” the FBR said in the statement.