CERT issues advisory amid increasing cyberattack risks in Pakistan

Amid ongoing regional tensions, the risk of cyberattacks has increased, prompting the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to issue a fresh advisory in Pakistan.

The national cyber emergency response body has directed sensitive institutions to take immediate protective measures. According to the advisory, government, defence and financial organisations could be potential targets.

It also warned of possible deepfake campaigns, spear-phishing attempts and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

There is a risk that official social media accounts could be compromised, while banking and financial systems may face ransomware threats. Government employees and members of the public in Pakistan have been urged to exercise caution when dealing with suspicious links and mobile applications.

The advisory makes multi-factor authentication and immediate system updates mandatory. Users and public sector staff have been instructed not to download unverified applications. It further cautions against the threat of psychological operations conducted through deepfakes and fabricated news.

IT teams have been advised to carry out immediate threat hunting and comprehensive security audits to mitigate potential risks.

Earlier, according to sources, two private television channels and one mobile application reported breaches.

The affected platforms were restored after immediate technical intervention and are now functioning normally. At the same time, sources in the power corridors said that the immediate reaction was to launch a counterattack and some Indian TV channels as well as a few Israeli websites faced hacking.