IT force required to tackle cyberattacks

President Alvi says cybersecurity a must for countries as well as MNCs

KARACHI:

President Arif Alvi has asked public and private sectors to collaborate to produce an IT force to beef up cybersecurity and prepare to counter potential future attacks, as the country’s reliance on cyberspace is on the rise at a fast pace.

“Pakistan and the world have to be well prepared for cyberattacks in future,” the president said in a video message at the 14th International Conference on Information Security 2022 on Thursday.

He said the sale of big countries’ data on the dark web was alarming. “Cybersecurity is desperately needed. We must produce our human resources…must be ready to fight this kind of interference, which may come even in peace times.”

Cybersecurity was necessary not only for countries, but it was also necessary for multinational companies (MNCs), it was necessary for banks and utility companies which must operate safely, it was necessary for every business because ransomware had attacked even small businesses, he said.

“IT influences almost everything we do today, whether it is a car, whether it is an airplane, whether it is a train, whether it is people working, whether it is traffic moving around and if there is interference (caused by cyberattacks), it will lead to chaos,” President Alvi said.

Syed Irfan Ali, Managing Director Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC), a subsidiary of the central bank, directed institutions to conduct cybersecurity risk assessment to know which sectors of the economy were vulnerable and how were they going to address the issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2022.

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