Technological advancements around the world have come with their unique set of challenges. As countries shift towards digitisation, they face a pressing problem: cyber attacks. According to a report by a cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky, published this week, cyber threats targeting Pakistan’s financial sector have seen a dramatic rise in 2024. The firm reported a 114 per cent increase in banking and financial malware attacks in the January-October period, adding that such threats may well continue in 2025 as well. The government should pay urgent attention to this. The country already has many people who are sceptical of carrying out financial transactions through online banking. Such reports may break their trust, prompting them to once again go back to hoarding cash. Digital security in Pakistan has been unsatisfactory. Reports of data breaches surface now and then, and while digital experts try to convince policymakers to sit with them and figure a way out of this situation, there has not been any progress on this front.
Cyber attacks should not now be seen as a ‘dark side’ of the internet. Many countries use them as a tool to cause disruptions in rival countries. Some sophisticated attacks are carried out by seemingly independent cyber cells of governments that deliberately cause unrest and chaos in ‘enemy’ states. That Pakistani authorities are aware of these threats is not debatable. But the problem is a majority of people here have little understanding of how the digital space works, and they end up falling prey to such attacks. Besides this, miscreants within the country also see cyber attacks as an easy way to make quick money. In most cases, these people attack small businesses and often hack into their systems. They then demand a good sum of money to grant access.
The government cannot ignore it for long. In today’s age, a state’s strength lies in its cybersecurity. Any leniency shown in fencing our digital spaces may lead to serious repercussions. In this regard, it is almost laughable that the government is more focused on banning VPNs, deliberately paring back the layers of security many organisations desperately need than figuring out a plan to make digital spaces secure. There have been numerous instances where people’s social media accounts get hacked with imposters demanding money from those who interact with such accounts. Phishing attacks have also become much more common. Many users enter their sensitive information on websites that are used by cybercriminals to collect and store people’s data. This is not all. Many apps are also being used for this purpose. Cybercriminals use apps to get access to people’s data and then use that as a bargaining tool to extort money. All of this has been happening for quite some time now, and the government has to take adequate measures to put an end to this. We cannot let our digital spaces be unmanned.
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