Pakistani cybersecurity needs holistic approach say experts

The Associated Press of Pakistan has reported that speakers at a five-day hands-on network security training workshop have emphasized the need to strengthen national cyber security capabilities in the country. 

They said that Pakistan should have a secure, robust and continually improving nationwide digital ecosystem ensuring accountable confidentiality, integrity and availability of digital assets leading to socio-economic development and national security.

All these requirements are identified in the National Cyber Security Policy 2021 of Pakistan that was approved by the federal cabinet on July 28, 2021, they added.

The speakers stressed that the Networks of Academic Campuses needs to be secured. Network Access Control (NAC), Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), Firewalls and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) technologies must be used in academic campuses and enterprises to control illegitimate users’ access over the organization network.

The workshop was organized for the faculty and women network engineers of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Peshawar at the varsity here by Riphah Institute of Systems Engineering, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

The lead resource person, Shehab Abdo Ali Al Shawafi, discussed the use of Firewalls and Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems for safety and security in detail.

Shawafi said that the objective of the project was to train the women network engineers of Pakistan in network security with a view to empower them to avail best job openings in the market.

The participants of the workshop were briefed about the vulnerabilities in protocols and their exploitation in-depth to provide them with a better understanding of how to secure their data on the internet from hackers. The participants were also guided about the use of public-key cryptography and infrastructure.

Then speakers told that Cyberbullying “Cyber Harassment”, which happens online with women and children needs appropriate response requiring different approaches to support the victims.

They said that the victims should cooperate with the departments concerned to initiate legal action against the bully so as to prevent and eliminate such criminal practices from society.

Pointing out the effects of cyberbullying, the trainers said that cyberbullying causes depression, isolation, illness, anger, low self-esteemed, and suicide.