Pakistan's central bank denies mass data breach after official says 'almost all' banks hit

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's central bank on Tuesday denied media reports that there had been mass data breaches in its banking system, hours after a senior law enforcement official told local television "almost all" banks had been hit.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the IT security system of a single bank, which it did not name, had been "compromised" on Oct. 27 and it had already instructed all banks to increase their scrutiny.

"It has been noted with concern news items reporting that the data of most banks has been hacked. SBP categorically rejects such reports," a statement from the central bank said.

Earlier, the head of the Federal Investigation Agency's cyber-crime unit told two television stations that "almost all" banks had been hit by hacking and a "large amount of money" had been stolen, though he gave few details.

(Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan and Asif Shahzad. Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Gareth Jones)