Islamabad (Web Desk): Amid rising regional tensions, Pakistan faces an elevated risk of large-scale cyberattacks, prompting the National Computer Emergency Response Team (National CERT) to issue an urgent advisory for all government and private sector organizations.
According to the advisory, hostile actors could target governmental, defense, and financial institutions.
In view of the severity of the threat, all departments have been instructed to implement immediate protective measures.
Particular emphasis has been placed on safeguarding banking systems and financial data against potential ransomware attacks.
Cybersecurity experts have warned that, under the current circumstances, attacks could take several forms:
* Theft of sensitive information from government employees through phishing emails.
* Overloading websites with excessive traffic to cause system outages.
* Gaining unauthorized control over official and high-profile personal accounts.
* Spreading panic among the public via deepfakes and fabricated news.
The National CERT has also advised both citizens and employees to adopt the following precautions:
* Avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading unverified applications.
* Activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all digital accounts immediately.
* Update systems and software with the latest security patches without delay.
Meanwhile, IT teams have been urged to conduct immediate threat-hunting and comprehensive security audits.