Committee formed to probe causes of cyberattacks

ISLAMABAD:

All government departments should shift their data to a safe and secure system of National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), said Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque.

Pakistan has faced cyberattack on the networking side of NTC. It was informed during a meeting on Wednesday that following the attack, the government formed a committee to probe the causes of cyberattacks and prevent them in future.

The meeting was briefed that no data was lost or leaked following the cyberattack, and some services were automatically suspended, which were reactivated within three hours.

The committee was formed under the IT Ministry Additional Secretary Aisha Humera to find out the causes of cyberattacks and ensure their prevention in future.

The federal government urged all provincial governments to shift their data to the safe and secure system of NTC to avoid cyberattacks.

“NTC thwarted lots of cyberattacks last year, which is the proof of its safe and secure system,” said IT Minister Syed Aminul Haque.

He said that NTC had effective cyber security system and “it is vital that all government departments shift their data to the safe and secure system of NTC”.

The minister also emphasised the need for shifting the e-cabinet and e-office system to a separate system for making it further secure. He urged all public and private departments to harmonise their security systems with the modern requirements.

Ministry of IT and Telecommunication Additional Secretary (In charge) Mohsin Mushtaq, PTA Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa, NTC MD Meraj Gul, NITB Executive Director Syed Hasnain Kazmi and senior officers of the ministry were present in the meeting.