The Complicated World of Cybersecurity

With the rise of technology and smart devices, the threat to cybersecurity has increased. It has led to widespread chaos in the digital world. The situation is getting worse day-by-day and the security of individuals is at high risk.

The Complicated World of Cybersecurity

To protect ourselves from cyber threats, we should stay away from the latest technology. Wait! Is it even possible?

Of Course not. We all are on the verge of an era of hyper-connectivity. We are living more in the digital world as compared to the real world. We have brought our lives online because these digital tools have brought more convenience in our lives, and we do most of our daily tasks with just a click of a button. But with increased dependency on the internet, we have also become more prone to cybercrimes.

Back in April, a cyber-security company, Rewterz Threat Intelligence, discovered a sale advertisement of 115 million Pakistani mobile users’ data being put up on the dark web by an unknown hacker. The leak came after a hacker tried to sell a package containing 115 million Pakistani mobile user records last month for a price of $2.1 million in bitcoin. The undisclosed hacker leaked the database of Pakistan’s leading telecom service provider, Jazz. The data leaked contained both personally-identifiable and telephony related information, including customer’s full names, home addresses (city, region, and street name), National identification (CNIC) numbers, mobile phone numbers, landline numbers, and dates of subscription. In response to that, Chairman of the Senate Standing committee on Interior Senator Rehman Malik directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate how the personal data had been stolen and being sold for $2.1 billion on the dark web.

Cyber Threats in Pakistan:

It is not the first time that Pakistan has come under a cyber-attack, there so many cases of cyber-attacks in our history. It is noticed that hackers had tried to hack confidential information and NADRA may be the next target of cyber terrorism to destroy its essential services, hack the confidential information of people and use them for illegal purposes.

Hackers had tried to hack confidential information and NADRA may be the next target of cyber terrorism to destroy its essential services, hack the confidential information of people and use them for the illegal purposes.

 Pakistan is a developing country, and here the implementation of cyber services is still in its initial phase. It is essential to highlight here that the USA is one of the countries that actively spies upon Pakistan. The USA is using multiple tools to collect data mainly through electronic surveillance, ground and air intelligence platforms like satellites, recording telephonic calls, gathering public pulse through e-mails filtering, radio monitoring and communication leaks.

FIA can barely cope with the situation because the department has no experts who can control such attacks.

FIA division is responsible for dealing with cybercrimes. Still, unfortunately, FIA can barely cope with the situation because the department has no experts who can control such attacks. The department is also not even able to trace such attacks that are executed by cybercriminals via proxies, like TOR, free software that enables online anonymity and resists censorship. On the other hand, the most critical problem that currently Pakistan is facing in cyber-domain is the lack of understanding of the people about the use of internet/social media platforms. Currently, there is no concrete law that can deal with the growing threat of cyber-crimes.

Our legal framework is inadequate and ill-equipped to address the online cyber threats Our legal framework is inadequate and ill-equipped to address the online cyber threats.

 How exactly can we address this ongoing issue of cybersecurity?

It is crucial to have in-depth knowledge about Risk factors. The more knowledge you have about the risks involved, the better the security measures you will be able to take. The operating systems and internet security software should be updated as hackers frequently use known flaws in the software to gain access to the system. Keeping an eye on those flaws and patching them up on time can make it less likely that the operating system becomes a cybercrime target.

The more knowledge you have about the risks involved, the better the security measures you will be able to take.

 For organizations, it is essential to train their employees in cybersecurity principles. All the important organizations that are keeping records of personal information should install, use, and regularly update antivirus and antispyware software on every computer. It is better to use a firewall for the Internet connection.

The physical access to computers and network components should also be restricted and a limited number of employees should have the authority to access the data and install soft wares. The companies should conduct cybersecurity risk assessments regularly.

All the important organizations should install, use and regularly update antivirus and antispyware software on every computer

A Tanzanian delegation has recommended that Pakistan need to establish Cyber Crime Unit (CCU) to tackle cybercrimes and it has to develop relevant legislation and formulate Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to facilitate the implementation. Tanzania itself has developed CCUs and CERTs as it has lost $6 million in different cyber-related crimes. The Tanzanian delegation highlighted in the discussion that $445 billion are lost annually due to cybercrimes and electronic thefts in online security. Moreover, 800 million data records from developing countries have been hacked so far. So all the developing countries like Pakistan must develop and implement comprehensive policies to control the cyber-crime.