A Parliamentary Committee has expressed concerns about the performance of the Cyber Security Cell in view of the recent episodes of cyber attacks on several government websites.
This was stated by the Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication at a briefing about the operations of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) on Monday.
Headed by MNA Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali, the Standing Committee revealed that it is dissatisfied with the performance of various departments under the MoITT, and the Cyber Security Cell, in particular, and ordered the MoITT to rectify the latter’s incompetence.
Committee member, Naz Baloch, alleged that the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) website, which contains sensitive information about all Pakistani citizens, had been hacked twice recently.
MoITT officials also informed the committee that work on the Cyber Security Policy has begun, which is why the National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA), the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), and the Sectoral CERT will be set up accordingly. Additionally, efforts to hire professionals and build advanced laboratories for national certification are also underway.
They also mentioned that the MoITT has drafted the CERT guidelines that will be sent to the Cabinet after approval of the Ministry of Law.
Furthermore, it highlighted the development of the revised Cyber Crime, Cyber Security, and Social Media Rules as Pakistan has a history of banning social media services on the pretext of the content that appears on their sites.
Besides this, the committee remarked that it is displeased with the attempts for the restoration of telecommunications infrastructure after the recent floods that affected half the country.