The federal government has started forming a Federal Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to strengthen cyber security across government institutions, marking the first practical step toward implementing the Cyber Security Framework 2026.
The Federal CERT will operate under the supervision of the National CERT. It will be responsible for monitoring cyber threats, identifying attacks and responding to them immediately.
The team will protect federal institutions from cyber attacks. It will also coordinate cyber security matters among government bodies and ensure the exchange of threat-related information between them.
Cyber security professionals will form part of the Federal CERT to safeguard government digital infrastructure. The National CERT has also begun recruiting experts for the team, including a director.
Last week, the National CERT issued the National Cyber Security Handbook 2026-27 under the Pakistan Information Security Framework 2026, barring government employees from uploading classified documents to public AI tools.
Officials may use only AI platforms approved by their departments and cannot share government email content, software source code, or citizens’ personal information on public tools, as sensitive data risks leaks and unauthorised use.
Furthermore, employees must remove names and other sensitive information from AI prompts and files before submitting them to such tools, reducing the risk of exposing confidential details through these platforms.
Any accidental disclosure of confidential information must be reported immediately to the relevant IT or cybersecurity team, according to the National CERT, so that officials can respond quickly to potential data exposure.
