28:I[87087,["/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2corl6wyj4669.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/29n5y1fco65mp.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2gy5gg4_1pywi.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/13ggluqxs2fvs.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3whfejvldou9o.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3-evdrh07jxzy.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2ok0fp0-qyxch.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0tstzde3qoch8.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3ahn2cs_uexsk.js"],"default"] 2c:I[27201,["/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2corl6wyj4669.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/29n5y1fco65mp.js"],"IconMark"] 29:Tacd,

October 6, 2017, started like any other Friday weekend support shift, but nature had other plans. By morning and early afternoon, sudden convective clouds rolled across Dhaka and the central/southeastern districts of Bangladesh, bringing intense thunderstorms and heavy downpours.

For a telecom network, severe weather means immediate trouble—mains power failures, lightning strikes, and site outages. Within hours, the active alarm dashboard was under immense pressure.

The Challenge: Fighting Noise to Find the Signal

When severe weather hits, a Network Operations Center (NOC) is instantly flooded with thousands of raw alarms. The real hurdle isn't just knowing that sites are down; it’s figuring out where to send field engineers first when resources are stretched thin. Management needed immediate, deep insights to prioritize incident handling, minimize downtime, and keep the network afloat.

As the creator and maintainer of our Integrated Network Management System (INMS), I knew the raw data had to be transformed into actionable intelligence immediately. The INMS is built exactly for this—to track critical Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and transmission alarms and turn chaotic data into structured maintenance tickets.

Turning Data Into Strategy

Working from home with a multi-monitor command center setup, I spent the weekend developing custom charts, trend graphs, and live geospatial distributions to map the impact of the storm in real time. By analyzing site-down durations, regional office clusters, and filtering out temporary power fluctuations (using the system's smart thresholding, like masking mains failures under 3 hours), we were able to:

Visualize Down Time Trends: Pinpoint exactly when and where the storm hit the hardest.
Map Regional Impact: Segment site failures by regional boundaries and on-call engineer rosters.
Optimize Operations: Provide management with a clean, prioritized view of critical nodes so field teams could be dispatched efficiently.

A Long Way to Go

The weekend was a stark reminder of why robust, centralized network management platforms are so vital. It’s one thing to build a system that logs errors; it’s another to design an analytics engine capable of guiding an entire operations team through a crisis.

We successfully optimized the restoration workflow and kept downtime to a minimum—but as network footprints grow and weather becomes more unpredictable, there is always a long way to go to make our infrastructure truly resilient.

2a:T8ec,

Ah, 2016. A time when Clash of Clans was life, dragons were the ultimate flex, and cyber threats were getting increasingly loud.

Back then, Bangladesh had just initiated biometric SIM verification. It was a massive, highly debated topic with tons of mixed feelings floating around the public. Naturally, opportunistic hacker groups wanted to ride that wave of controversy for clout.

So, when a group managed to breach one of our Corporate VAS (Value-Added Services) servers, they immediately started bragging. Their big, dramatic claim? “We hacked the Biometric Server!”

Yeah... lol. 😉

Here is what actually happened, and how we shut them down:

The Vulnerability

The attackers found an exploit through an old, forgotten service hosted on an Apache server running PHP. This server hosted various critical B2B solutions. Using that outdated service, they managed to upload a PHP web shell script, giving them a directory view and the ability to execute remote code.

The Lockdown

Fortunately, our architecture did its job. The corporate VAS environment was properly isolated inside a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Because of this segmentation, the entire core Banglalink network and actual sensitive systems remained completely untouched and safe. There was absolutely zero access to any biometric data.

The Dragon's Counter-Attack

Instead of panicking, I tracked down the entry point and deployed a swift, smart fix. I configured and pushed .htaccess files across the upload directories. This instantly killed their ability to execute scripts in those folders, completely neutralizing the web shell.

But I couldn't just patch it without leaving a little parting gift. Remembering my favorite CoC warrior, I left a custom message coded right into the denial response for the hackers to see:

"You are Messing with the Wrong Dragon!"

The Takeaway

This initiative successfully safeguarded our critical B2B infrastructure and minimized further vulnerability to cyber threats. It was a classic case of hacker theatrics meeting solid network segmentation and a quick, decisive patch.

Deface denied. Threat neutralized. Back to raiding villages!

2b:Tcb6,

November 19, 2018, was an incredible day. What started as a group of coworkers jamming turned into standing on the Grand Finale stage at Tigers' Den (Banglalink's Headquarters), performing in front of a childhood icon, and taking home the People's Choice Award at the Banglalink Employee Talent Hunt.

Our band, Haunted Talent, was formed with a unique, experimental vision: a poetic fusion that blended heavy psychedelic music with intense spoken-word poetry and powerful vocal melodies. For our signature performance, we presented a Bidrohi Fusion—a daring mix that paired the fiery, rebellious verses of the classic poem with raw, atmospheric musical textures.

Performing for an Icon

The stakes couldn't have been higher. Sitting at the judges' table was none other than Partha Barua of the legendary band Souls. Growing up in Bangladesh, the music of Souls and the golden era of Bangladeshi band music heavily influenced my teenage years and shaped my musical journey. Getting the opportunity to perform right in front of a living inspiration was surreal. For one song, I took up the guitar, and for our core poetic fusion piece, I moved over to the keyboards to layer in those psychedelic soundscapes.

Haunted Talent with Partha Barua - Banglalink Talent Hunt

The Lineup

The incredible synergy of our lineup is what truly brought the fusion to life:

Masud Parvez Bhai: Keeping our rhythms perfectly locked down on drums.
Tanvir Hossain: Main vocalist, driving the performance with an incredibly powerful vocal throw that perfectly matched the gravity of the poetry.
Shazzad Maruf: Crafting the essential guitar textures.
Abdullah Ibne Alam (Me): Handling the keyboards to layer in the psychedelic atmospheric soundscapes, while also switching to guitar for our second song.
Md. Mohidul Islam: Delivering the melodic song parts with precision.
Our Secret Weapon: While most of us hailed from the IT department, we brought in a special guest drummer Masud Parvez Bhai from another department to complete our sound!

Haunted Talent Performance - Banglalink Talent Hunt

Winning the People's Choice

While moving forward into the final round was a massive artistic victory, the real surprise came during the employee voting phase. Our network, colleagues, and connections rallied behind us with staggering enthusiasm. The support crossed departmental lines entirely; in an amazing twist, even the B2B teams voted for our IT-heavy band over their own departmental entries simply because they loved us and our performance.

Haunted Talent Award - Banglalink Talent Hunt

Winning the People's Choice Award wasn't just a trophy for our shelf—it was a testament to the incredible, collaborative community at Banglalink who championed a bold musical experiment and lifted us all the way to the top.

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