Syed Aminul Haq, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, directed the formation of a committee Wednesday to investigate the causes of recent cyberattacks and prevent future attacks.
Following recent cyberattacks on government websites, the decision was made at a high-level meeting. The committee, which will be led by Additional Secretary Aisha Chaudhry, has been given two weeks to produce a report on the cyber-attacks.
The committee will also include representatives from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the National Telecommunication and Information Security Board (NTISB), and intelligence agencies.
The minister was briefed on the cyberattack on the National Technology Council (NTC) system during the meeting. The attack had no effect on the data because the system had automatically suspended the services.
According to the minister, the e-cabinet and e-office systems should be moved to a separate system for security reasons.
The minister praised the NTC and stated that the council had foiled numerous cyberattacks in the previous year, demonstrating that the system is secure.
The minister expressed concern about rising cyberattacks and security threats as a result of new technological advancements. As a result, he believes that the NTC system should be strengthened.
According to the minister, under the cybersecurity policy, national and private institutions must update their security systems to meet modern standards.
Secretary IT, Additional Secretary, Chairman PTA, member IT, and member Telecom attended the meeting. The meeting was also attended by the NTC’s Managing Director, the Executive Director of the Information Technology Board (ITB), and officials from various intelligence agencies.
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