Cyber attack behind NSE glitch?
NSE's technical glitch on February 24 could have been due to a cyber attack and not telecom service provider's failure, given the way the system came to a halt slowly, according to a report published by Moneylife Foundation, an NGO, engaged in spreading financial literacy and consumer awareness.
The manner in which NSE's operations shut down have all signs of a cyber attack, rather than a telecom failure, according to the report.
The problem on February 24 began around 9.54 am when traders couldn't place orders or exit and the trades seemed to have frozen. By 10.06 the problem had affected other parts of the system and indices were not getting updated. But there was no announcement nor a closure by the NSE till 11.11 am. The exchange closed the derivatives market at 11.40 am and the cash market at 11.43 am. This slow shutdown may be due to hacking rather than a telecom issue, the report said.
The NSE is yet to name which telecom serviceprovider failed though it said that it has multiple telecom links with two service providers, the report said.
"Communication failure would have brought trading to a halt immediately," the report said.
The NSE not able to restart operations from disaster recovery site despite testing it every quarter under a Sebi mandate also could have been for some other reasons, as it would have hindered large traders, who invest heavily in NSE's colocation servers placed inside NSE building and may have lost their advantage a day before options expiry.
"5 per cent of all orders and 95 per cent of all trades come from the colocation servers within the NSE building," the report said.
The Pakistan Super League was on Thursday postponed with immediate effect after three more cricketers tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of cases in the T20 event to seven and prompting the cricket board to announce an inquiry into the fiasco.
Out of the seven cases, six are players while one is a support staff member.
“Following a meeting with the team owners and considering the health and wellbeing of all participants is paramount, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to postpone the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 with immediate effect,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.
“The decision was made after seven cases were reported in the competition, which had started on 20 February.”
PCB CEO Wasim Khan said an inquiry will be conducted to understand what went wrong.
“It is a great disappointment for us and we find ourselves in a situation where we question whether we can provide full protection for players as their health and well being comes above everything else,” Wasim Khan told a press conference here.
“We looked at the option of halting proceedings for a few days but in the last few days there was huge concern even among the franchises and players.
“Collectively we could have done a lot of things better and this is not a blame game but we have to look with a microscope at what went wrong and we have to provide confidence and assurance in the future to touring teams and players,” he added.
Khan said the priority of the board right now is to ensure that players are able safely travel back to their respective destinations.
“...We all had a responsibility for self-policing and unfortunately we were not able to do that.”
The three players, who have tested positive most recently, were not part of the sides that featured in Wednesday’s double-header, and had been tested in the afternoon after showing symptoms.
Only 14 games could be completed in the 34-match tournament.
The PCB said it “will focus on the safe and secure passage of all participants, and arrange repeat PCR tests, vaccines and isolation facilities to the six participating sides.”
The board was apparently forced to take the decision after some of the foreign players and few local team officials expressed their concern over the situation and Australian allrounder, Dan Christian decided to fly home immediately.
Following a meeting with the team owners and considering the health and well-being of all participants is paramount, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to postpone the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 with immediate effect.
— PAKISTAN CRICKET BOARD