Pakistan has thwarted more than 400 cyber attacks this year through timely intervention, the Director General of the National Cyber Emergency Response Team, Dr Haider Abbas, has revealed.
Speaking on the growing scale of cyber threats, particularly those backed by state actors, Dr Abbas proposed the creation of a powerful National Cyber Security Authority to be led by the Prime Minister.
He said cybersecurity is directly tied to national security and called for an effective mechanism to take action against, and penalise, institutions that show negligence in safeguarding their systems.
The DG National CERT also urged lawmakers to introduce legislation ensuring the safe use of artificial intelligence, stressing that firm measures are essential to counter the rising wave of cyber threats confronting Pakistan.
He noted that the frequency and sophistication of these attacks underline the need for a centralised authority capable of coordinating a national response, rather than leaving individual institutions to handle threats in isolation.
Abbas added that state-sponsored cyber attacks pose a particular challenge, as they are often more coordinated and resourced than attacks carried out by individual actors, making a unified national strategy essential.
