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Islamabad: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, headed by MNA Ameen-ul-Haque, was briefed on the progress of the government’s Beep Application, a secure messaging platform developed for use by federal officials.
During the committee session, the CEO of the National Information Technology Board (NITB) informed the committee members of the app’s successful testing while it was receiving final security approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Security Board (NTISB).
“The Beep App is designed to support secure audio, video calls, and document sharing. It also features Zoom-style video conferencing capabilities and has been hosted on the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) server,” said the NITB chief. He added that a third-party security audit has already been conducted to ensure robust cybersecurity standards.
The internal government communication application appears like WhatsApp but operates exclusively for government departments through advanced encryption and privacy methods.
However, delays in its official rollout have been attributed to pending security evaluations. Chairing the meeting, Ameen-ul-Haque expressed frustration over the hold-up, saying, “If this app is already operating smoothly within the Ministry of IT, then what’s holding back its full-scale launch?”
Committee member Sharmila Faruqi raised important questions regarding the cybersecurity framework of the application. “Has the ministry established effective anti-hacking protocols? Has a thorough third-party audit been carried out?” she asked. The NITB CEO responded affirmatively, noting that the NTISB is in the final stages of its security review.
Chairman Amin ul Haq demanded from the Ministry of IT to start immediate talks with NTISB for deploying the application to all federal ministries due to its vital role in government communication security and efficiency.
“This is a critical national project, the time for delays is over,” he concluded.
