First national cybersecurity policy to be fully implemented by June 2022

The government is all set to fully implement the first-ever National Cyber Security Policy 2021 by end of June 2022 to monitor, detect, protect and respond on time to the international threats against the country’s digital ecosystem.

The policy would enable the country to protect against cyberattacks like the one the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) faced very recently.

Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Federal Secretary (IT & Telecommunication), said on Thursday the Federal Cabinet approved the policy on July 27, 2021.

The policy implementation is on the stage that there will be a national level overarching committee that will provide the governance framework for the entire country.

“We are hopeful that the national CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) will be in place by the end of the current financial year,” Dr. Rajput said while speaking at the 13th International Information Security Conference – Infosec 2021 organized by Total Communications.

The government has allocated Rs2 billion for the project in the budget.

“We have some sectoral CERTs including for financial, telecommunication, and power sector, but those are acting in silos,” he said. “The national CERT will be responsible for the overall operational mechanism for integration of all sectoral CERTs into one body.”

Besides, the government is also actively working on Data Protection Act and Clouds Policy in consultation and collaboration with the international community. “The Clouds Policy is expected to be rolled out over the next two to three months,” Dr. Rajput said.

Pakistan’s IT exports grew 47% to $2.1 billion in the fiscal year 2020-21 from $1.4 billion in the previous fiscal year 2019-20. “This year we are targeting a growth of 75%, which is ambitious and very much achievable as well, provided that investment in our human resources and our technology is made.”

Syed Irfan Ali, Managing Director, Deposit Protection Corporation, said that the work from home model has created a new set of cyber security threats globally.

“We don’t have the same high-security measures in place while working (online) from home on smartphones and laptops like the one we do have at the office,” he said and asked institutions to pay attention to this. He said the central bank has put almost all the security measures in place to make sure online banking transactions by overseas Pakistanis through Roshan Digital Account (RDA) remain safe and sound. “We have extended the online bank accounts opening and operational services to resident Pakistanis from yesterday (Wednesday) as well.”

Sagheer Mufti, Chief Operating Officer, HBL, said that ensuring cyber security is not the job of the IT team, but rests with the Human Resource (HR) department.

Dr. Imran Batada, CTO & Director IoBM – CIT, said that more than 99% of cyberattacks are launched from inside the organization instead of outside the organization.

Talib Karim, the President of, IoBM urged the institutions to do maximum research and development (R&D) to continue to detect potential cyber threats and respond to them on time.

The one-day conference also featured three panel discussions on (1) the Latest Cyber Threats and Protection Approaches, (2) Fireside Chat: Data Protection Law of Pakistan 2021, and (3) Fireside Chat: How to Fulfil in The Talent Gap.