Pakistan Faces 17% Rise in Cyber Threats During 2023

During Kaspersky’s 9th annual Cyber Security Weekend, META 2024, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it was disclosed that cyber threats in Pakistan surged by 17 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. The discussions at the event primarily centered around the security implications of emerging technology trends like artificial intelligence (AI), which have contributed to the proliferation of modern cyber threats. Additionally, the event highlighted the growing concern over threats aimed at industrial control systems within critical infrastructure across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

The spotlight during the event was on Kaspersky’s Cyber Immunity approach, which aims to develop solutions that are extremely difficult to compromise and reduce potential vulnerabilities. The threat landscape in Pakistan was a focal point, with Kaspersky’s telemetry revealing a 17 percent increase in overall cyber threats in the country in 2023 compared to the previous year. In 2023, Kaspersky thwarted 16 million cyber attacks in Pakistan alone. Recent research by Kaspersky, a prominent cybersecurity and digital privacy company, indicates that 24.4 percent of users in Pakistan encountered online threats.

“Being an emerging country and accepting digital transformation at a good pace, Pakistan has a very important role to play in Asia, Amin Hasbini, Director of META Research Center Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) further added that as the cybersecurity landscape evolves, cyber threats continue to become diverse and sophisticated.

Analyzing the threat landscape in Pakistan in more detail, Kaspersky’s experts observed a significant surge in attacks utilizing banking malware, marking a 59 percent increase. These attacks are crafted to harvest online banking credentials and other sensitive data from compromised devices. Additionally, there was a notable uptick of 35 percent in trojan attacks, where malicious actors camouflage harmful code within seemingly legitimate computer programs to execute nefarious activities.

PTA Records 20,000 Complaints Against Telcos in January 2024

Furthermore, ransomware attacks, which aim to encrypt a victim’s data or system and demand payment for decryption, surged by 24 percent in Pakistan. Additionally, incidents involving spyware spiked by 36 percent. Spyware represents a type of malicious software that infiltrates a user’s computer, collects sensitive data from the device and user, and surreptitiously transmits it to third parties without consent.

PTA Launches Cyber Security Platform for Telecom Sector

The rise in cyber threats, particularly evident in the META region, is attributed to the proliferation of advanced technologies such as AI and the escalating geopolitical and economic turbulence. Kaspersky’s analysis reveals significant fluctuations in the cybersecurity threat landscape across the region. Turkey reported the highest percentage of users affected by online threats at 41.8 percent, followed by Kenya at 39.2 percent, Qatar at 38.8 percent, and South Africa at 35 percent. In contrast, Oman and Egypt experienced less user impact (23.4 and 27.4%, respectively), while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait experienced 29.9 and 30.8 percent, respectively.