Pakistan’s government is strengthening its policies to deal with cybercrimes

The Pakistani government is planning to strengthen the Cyber Crimes Wing at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Cyber Security Wing at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) to deal and curb cybercrime issues.

Policies to increase the capacity of FIA and NACTA were discussed in National Internal Security Policy (NISP-2018-23). The initiative launched in collaboration with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) aims to monitor misuse of cyberspaces. Modern technology will be used to improve processes, increase efficiency and effectiveness and enhance transparency of delivering public services.

The policy document on Tuesday explained that the Integrated Border Management System, Safe City project and biometric SIM registration system are successful examples of using Information Technology to achieve these objectives to curb cybercrimes.

It is also envisaged in the Policy that a National Cyber Security Strategy will be developed to secure services and infrastructure from cyber-attacks. Moreover, public campaigns will also be launched to promote awareness about cybersecurity threats.

National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in this regard will be empowered to take a lead on the development of these systems. These include Information Systems proposed under criminal justice system reforms, Pakistan Visa processing system designed to regulate visa applications, National centralized vehicle database and National Criminal Database and Fingerprint Identification System.

It is important to mention that various militant organizations use cyberspaces for propagating their messages, recruitment and generating funding. Besides that many individuals and organizations also launch attacks on critical infrastructure that is supported by IT such as financial, communication or energy sectors etc.