Proliferation of Cyber Hacking Tools in Pakistan

Many intelligence agencies are turning to the use of smartphone malware and spyware for the purpose of hacking and surveillance. The list of such agencies includes but not limited to US CIA, NSA, Mossad, RAW, MI6, ISI and others. Global proliferation of cyber hacking tools appears to have been accelerated with the US CIA's loss of control of its hacking tools including spyware, malware, viruses and trojans.

Stealth Mango and Tangelo:

Lookout, an American mobile security firm based in San Francisco, has recently published a report claiming that a "group or individuals that are believed to belong to the Pakistani military "has developed and released a "set of custom Android and iOS surveillanceware tools we’re respectively calling Stealth Mango and Tangelo".  The report says: "These tools have been part of a highly targeted intelligence gathering campaign we believe is operated by members of the Pakistani military". The countries affected by it include Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, according to Lookout report.

Mango and Tangelo Spyware Targets. Source: Lookout


The targets in Pakistan include members of the foreign diplomatic corps who have visited conflict zones, particularly parts of Balochistan, and Pakistani officials involved in internal corruption investigations.

The goal of the Lookout report is to sell their security software as obvious from their concluding summary below:

"Stealth Mango and Tangelo is yet another example among the numerous campaigns we have uncovered (Dark Caracal, ViperRAT, FrozenCell, etc.) where threat actors are developing in-house custom surveillanceware. The actor behind Stealth Mango has stolen a significant amount of sensitive data from compromised devices without the need to resort to exploits of any kind. The actors that are developing this surveillanceware are also setting up their own command and control infrastructure and in some cases encountering some operational security missteps, enabling researchers to discover who the targets are and details about the actors operating it that otherwise are not as easily obtained. Relevant data has already been shared with the appropriate authorities. Lookout customers are protected against Stealth Mango and Tangelo and have been for several months since the beginning of the investigation."

Amnesty International Allegations:

Amnesty International has alleged that attackers are using fake online identities and social media profiles to "ensnare Pakistani human rights defenders online and mark them out for surveillance and cybercrime".  The report titled "Human Rights Under Surveillance: Digital Threats against Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan" claims that Diep Saeeda, a Lahore-based human rights activist, has been targeted by a "network of individuals and companies based in Pakistan that are behind the creation of some of the tools seen in surveillance operations used to target individuals in Pakistan".

Amnesty says that "over the course of several months, Amnesty International used digital forensic techniques and malware analysis to identify the infrastructure and web pages connected to online attacks on human rights activists in Pakistan".  "Amnesty International’s Technology and Human Rights team has been able to trace these attacks to a group of individuals based in Pakistan".

Proliferation of Hacking Tools:

In 2017, Wikileaks revealed that the American intelligence agency CIA has "lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized "zero day" exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation." The Wikileaks noted that that "the CIA made these systems unclassified".

Wikileaks said: "In what is surely one of the most astounding intelligence own goals in living memory, the CIA structured its classification regime such that for the most market valuable part of "Vault 7" — the CIA's weaponized malware (implants + zero days), Listening Posts (LP), and Command and Control (C2) systems — the agency has little legal recourse".

FBI agents have since arrested 29-year-old former CIA software engineer Joshua A. Schulte as a prime suspect in the release of the CIA documents via Wikileaks, according to New York Times.

It appears that the CIA's "hacking arsenal" is now being modified and used by many state and non-state actors to carry out hacking and surveillance of their targets around the world. The proliferation of cyber hacking tools appears to be a lot easier than the proliferation of the nuclear weapons technology.

Summary:

A report by American mobile security software vendor Lookout claims that individuals and groups  connected to the Pakistani military are using spyware and malware tools on targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and UAE. Amnesty International alleges that Pakistan intelligence agencies are "network of individuals and companies based in Pakistan that are behind the creation of some of the tools seen in surveillance operations used to target individuals in Pakistan".

Many intelligence agencies are turning to the use of smartphone malware and spyware for the purpose of hacking and surveillance. The list of such agencies includes but not limited to US CIA, NSA, Mossad, RAW, MI6, ISI and others. Global proliferation of cyber hacking tools appears to have been accelerated when the US CIA  lost control of its hacking tools including malware, viruses and trojans.

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Comments

Riaz Haq said…
Pakistan army spokesperson accuses journalists of anti-state activity on social media
June 5, 2018 1:54 PM ET

https://cpj.org/2018/06/pakistan-army-spokesperson-accuses-journalists-of-.php

New York, June 5, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned comments from Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson for Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies, who accused journalists of sharing anti-state remarks on social media.

At a press conference yesterday, Ghafoor derided the rise of social media troll accounts, which he said spread propaganda against the army and state, and said that Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was monitoring such accounts and those that engage with them, including journalists.

During his presentation, Ghafoor showed a graphic featuring an alleged troll account's Twitter activity and the journalists and other individuals allegedly connected to the account, who, Ghafoor said, redistributed anti-state and anti-army propaganda from the troll's account.

The journalists featured on the graphic include Ammar Masood and Fakhar Durrani, both with media Jang Media Group, Umar Cheema from the Jang-owned daily The News, Azaz Syed from the Jang-owned broadcaster Geo TV, and Matiullah Jan with the broadcaster Waqt News. Cheema received CPJ's International Press Freedom Award in 2011.

"Displaying photos of journalists alleged to help push anti-state propaganda in Pakistan is tantamount to putting a giant target on their backs," said Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia program coordinator in Washington, D.C. "General Ghafoor should apologize for his comments and explain how security forces might help promote journalist safety in Pakistan, where reporters and editors are routinely threatened, attacked, and killed for their work."

Pakistani authorities have cracked down on press freedom ahead of national parliamentary elections scheduled for July 25. Recently, CPJ documented disruptions to the distribution of Dawn newspaper and access to television channel Geo TV.
Riaz Haq said…
#Israeli #Cybersecurity Firm NSO Accused Of Helping #Saudis Spy On #Khashoggi. #Israel is actually involved in NSO in that Israeli government officials have to give the OK to let it sell its products abroad. This company has faced a lot of controversy. https://n.pr/2ANSZea

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi.

MARTIN: Tell us more about these allegations, and what do we know about the Saudi dissident making them?

ESTRIN: His name is Omar Abdulaziz. He tells a very compelling story. He's a social media activist. He's a critic of the Saudi royal family. He lives in Montreal. And in his lawsuit, he says Saudi officials in Canada met him in May, told him Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was unhappy with his activism. They asked him to come to the Saudi consulate for further discussion, and he declined. And he says that he and Jamal Khashoggi started working together on an initiative to organize a group of Twitter activists against the Saudi regime. And then this dissident got a text message with a link, supposedly a DHL package delivery, and he clicked on the link and later, a Canadian group, Citizen Lab, said it believed that he fell victim to a cellphone spyware from an Israeli-based company, NSO. He spoke with NPR's Shannon Van Sant, and he said he thinks the Saudis intercepted his Whatsapp text messages with Khashoggi, and that was a deciding factor that led to his death. Here's what he said.

OMAR ABDULAZIZ: For sure, the conversations between us played a major role in what happened to Jamal. And they found out what we were working on and what are these projects and why Jamal was behind them.

MARTIN: What do we know about this company that makes the spyware?

ESTRIN: NSO is its name. It's a very secretive company. It doesn't have a website. It was founded by three Israelis. Their first names form the initials NSO. And there are Israeli reports that the company recently sold its spyware technology to Saudi officials. The company defends itself. It says its products are only sold to governments and to law enforcement to fight terrorism and crime, but Israel is actually involved in this company in that Israeli government officials have to give the OK to let it sell its products abroad. This company has faced a lot of controversy. Mexican human rights activists and others say Mexican government officials hacked into their phones using this company's spyware - same accusations from a human rights activist in the United Arab Emirates. Amnesty International also says the software was used against one of its employees, and Amnesty is accusing Israel of allowing the spyware to be sold to regimes that violate human rights.

MARTIN: Well, considering the company's connections to the Israeli government, is the suit likely to go anywhere?

ESTRIN: It seems like it's more of a symbolic lawsuit, Rachel, to draw public attention to this issue. I think it's going to be hard to prove these claims in court, and the Israeli Defense Ministry has constantly defended its vetting of NSO technology sales abroad. And I should add that Israel is not the only place in the world where companies are developing spyware technology, but it is - Israel is a big player in the field.

MARTIN: And presumably, Saudi officials aren't weighing in on whether or not they actually bought this technology, confirming any connection.

ESTRIN: They're not, and it's very interesting. Saudi and Israeli ties are kind of under the radar, but this may be an example of some of those ties.

Riaz Haq said…

#American software security firm #Symantec believe #Chinese did not steal the code used in #NSA's hacking tools but captured it from NSA's attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy’s rifle and starts blasting away. #China
https://nyti.ms/2H0Oekx

Chinese intelligence agents acquired National Security Agency hacking tools and repurposed them in 2016 to attack American allies and private companies in Europe and Asia, a leading cybersecurity firm has discovered. The episode is the latest evidence that the United States has lost control of key parts of its cybersecurity arsenal.

Based on the timing of the attacks and clues in the computer code, researchers with the firm Symantec believe the Chinese did not steal the code but captured it from an N.S.A. attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy’s rifle and starts blasting away.

The Chinese action shows how proliferating cyberconflict is creating a digital wild West with few rules or certainties, and how difficult it is for the United States to keep track of the malware it uses to break into foreign networks and attack adversaries’ infrastructure.

The losses have touched off a debate within the intelligence community over whether the United States should continue to develop some of the world’s most high-tech, stealthy cyberweapons if it is unable to keep them under lock and key.

The Chinese hacking group that co-opted the N.S.A.’s tools is considered by the agency’s analysts to be among the most dangerous Chinese contractors it tracks, according to a classified agency memo reviewed by The New York Times. The group is responsible for numerous attacks on some of the most sensitive defense targets inside the United States, including space, satellite and nuclear propulsion technology makers.

Now, Symantec’s discovery, unveiled on Monday, suggests that the same Chinese hackers the agency has trailed for more than a decade have turned the tables on the agency.

Some of the same N.S.A. hacking tools acquired by the Chinese were later dumped on the internet by a still-unidentified group that calls itself the Shadow Brokers and used by Russia and North Korea in devastating global attacks, although there appears to be no connection between China’s acquisition of the American cyberweapons and the Shadow Brokers’ later revelations.

But Symantec’s discovery provides the first evidence that Chinese state-sponsored hackers acquired some of the tools months before the Shadow Brokers first appeared on the internet in August 2016.

Repeatedly over the past decade, American intelligence agencies have had their hacking tools and details about highly classified cybersecurity programs resurface in the hands of other nations or criminal groups.
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The N.S.A. used sophisticated malware to destroy Iran’s nuclear centrifuges — and then saw the same code proliferate around the world, doing damage to random targets, including American business giants like Chevron. Details of secret American cybersecurity programs were disclosed to journalists by Edward J. Snowden, a former N.S.A. contractor now living in exile in Moscow. A collection of C.I.A. cyberweapons, allegedly leaked by an insider, was posted on WikiLeaks.
Riaz Haq said…
Indian cyber-spy ‘Confucius’ targets #Pakistan, #Kashmir: #Indian hackers using #malware to target Pakistani military officials, Pak's top #nuclear regulator and #Indian election officials in #Indian Occupied Kashmir, says San Francisco-based Lookout Inc.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/indian-cyber-spy-confucius-targets-pakistan-kashmir-security-report-20210211-p571q3.html

Oakland, California: A hacking group with ties to the Indian military adopted a pair of mobile surveillance tools to spy on geopolitical targets in Pakistan and Kashmir amid persistent regional tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, according to a report from a cyber security company.

The group is known for commandeering legitimate web services in South Asia and embedding surveillance tools or malware inside apps and services to conduct espionage. Since 2017, and as recently as December, the hackers have relied on spyware to target Pakistani military officials, the country’s top nuclear regulator and Indian election officials in the disputed state of Kashmir, according to the report released by San Francisco-based Lookout Inc on Thursday.

The campaign appears to be just the latest example of hackers targeting sensitive security targets with social engineering tactics - luring victims to download malicious files disguised as benign applications. What’s unique about attacks by the group, dubbed Confucius, is the extent to which its operators go to veil their efforts, experts say.

Using knock-off web applications disguised as Google security tools and popular regional chat and dating applications, Confucius managed to access 156 victims’ devices in a trove of data recently discovered by the research team. The files and related logs were found in unsecured servers used by the attack group, according to the report. Most of the users who recently accessed those servers were based in Northern India.

Once the attackers penetrate a device, they scrape it for data, including call logs, contacts, geolocation, images and voice notes. In some cases, the hackers took screen shots of the devices and recorded phone calls. In at least one instance, intruders got inside the device of a Pakistani Air Force service member and viewed a contact list filled with other Air Force officials, said Apurva Kumar, Lookout’s staff security intelligence engineer.

“While their technical tools and malwares might not be that advanced, the Confucius threat actor invests human time to gain trust from their targets,” said Daniel Lunghi, threat researcher at the cyber security firm, Trend Micro. “And in certain sensitive fields where people are more cautious, it might be what makes the difference.”

In two cases, researchers discovered that hackers stole the contents of WhatsApp chat conversations from 2017 and 2018 between officials at the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and unknown third-parties. Then in April 2019, in the midst of India’s latest national election, the attackers burrowed into the device of an election official in the Pulwama region of Kashmir, where months earlier an Indian security convoy was attacked by a Pakistan-based Islamic terrorist in a deadly explosion.

Kumar said she couldn’t disclose the details of the stolen data.

Her research indicates the espionage campaign ramped up in 2018 after unknown hackers breached the commercial surveillance-ware provider, Retina-X Studios. Hornbill, one of the malware tools used by the attackers, shares code similarities with Retina-X’s Mobile Spy products. Another piece of malicious software called Sunbird, which is capable of remotely commandeering a user’s device, appears to be rooted in code for a stalkerware service called, BuzzOutLoud, based in India.
Riaz Haq said…
#China Appears to Warn #India : Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out in the Entire #SouthAsian Nation of 1.3 billion. Most of the #malware was never activated in the #Mumbai grid attack that was meant as a warning to #Modi. - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/28/us/politics/china-india-hacking-electricity.html

As border skirmishing increased last year, malware began to flow into the Indian electric grid, a new study shows, and a blackout hit Mumbai. It now looks like a warning.

Early last summer, Chinese and Indian troops clashed in a surprise border battle in the remote Galwan Valley, bashing each other to death with rocks and clubs.

Four months later and more than 1,500 miles away in Mumbai, India, trains shut down and the stock market closed as the power went out in a city of 20 million people. Hospitals had to switch to emergency generators to keep ventilators running amid a coronavirus outbreak that was among India’s worst.

Now, a new study lends weight to the idea that those two events may well have been connected — as part of a broad Chinese cybercampaign against India’s power grid, timed to send a message that if India pressed its claims too hard, the lights could go out across the country.

The study shows that as the standoff continued in the Himalayas, taking at least two dozen lives, Chinese malware was flowing into the control systems that manage electric supply across India, along with a high-voltage transmission substation and a coal-fired power plant.


The flow of malware was pieced together by Recorded Future, a Somerville, Mass., company that studies the use of the internet by state actors. It found that most of the malware was never activated. And because Recorded Future could not get inside India’s power systems, it could not examine the details of the code itself, which was placed in strategic power-distribution systems across the country. While it has notified Indian authorities, so far they are not reporting what they have found.

Stuart Solomon, Recorded Future’s chief operating officer, said that the Chinese state-sponsored group, which the firm named Red Echo, “has been seen to systematically utilize advanced cyberintrusion techniques to quietly gain a foothold in nearly a dozen critical nodes across the Indian power generation and transmission infrastructure.”

The discovery raises the question about whether an outage that struck on Oct. 13 in Mumbai, one of the country’s busiest business hubs, was meant as a message from Beijing about what might happen if India pushed its border claims too vigorously.

News reports at the time quoted Indian officials as saying that the cause was a Chinese-origin cyberattack on a nearby electricity load-management center. Authorities began a formal investigation, which is due to report in the coming weeks. Since then, Indian officials have gone silent about the Chinese code, whether it set off the Mumbai blackout and the evidence provided to them by Recorded Future that many elements of the nation’s electric grid were the target of a sophisticated Chinese hacking effort.

It is possible the Indians are still searching for the code. But acknowledging its insertion, one former Indian diplomat noted, could complicate the diplomacy in recent days between China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, and his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in an effort to ease the border tensions.

https://www.recordedfuture.com/redecho-targeting-indian-power-sector/
Riaz Haq said…
Pegasus was used to hack mobiles of Pak officials

https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/pegasus-used-hack-mobiles-pak-officials

New Delhi: Mobile phones of around 30 Pakistani government servants, who include serving army generals, officials attached with the ISI and senior bureaucrats, were hacked into by using Pegasus spying software during April and May 2019.

Pegasus takes control of the infected phone by entering the system through WhatsApp.


While the Pakistan government has so far kept the matter under wraps, possibly to avoid panic and public embarrassment, it, however, issued a special secret advisory to heads of departments, a copy of which was also sent to the secretary of Prime Minister Imran Khan, asking them to replace all phones purchased before 10 May 2019 immediately and prohibiting the transfer of official documents by using WhatsApp.

The hacking of the mobile numbers of around 30 officials—the exact number is known only to the group/individual/organisation that hacked into the phones—has sparked a frenzy among government officials because of speculation that key documents and vital information might have landed in unintended hands and offices across borders.

Information and classified documents that are generally found in the mobile phones of top government officials, are regarded as invaluable by both foreign government agencies and private operators as they give valuable insights into otherwise closely guarded policies and plans.

The Sunday Guardian reached out to the NSO Group, the Israel-based company that owns Pegasus, with a detailed questionnaire regarding the recent development. In a statement, the NSO Group said: “To protect the ongoing public safety missions of its agency customers and given significant legal and contractual constraints, NSO Group is not able to disclose who is or is not a client or discuss specific uses of its technology, as explained in its Transparency Statement of Principles. However, the company’s products are licensed only to government intelligence and law enforcement agencies for the sole purpose of preventing and investigating terror and serious crime. NSO’s technology is only licensed after a thorough vetting process that goes well beyond the legal requirements that we follow. All potential customers must meet strict export authority regulations before any sale, in addition to NSO’s internal vetting process that includes a focus on human rights. NSO’s governance framework aligns us with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and sets the highest standards in the cyber intelligence industry, embedding human rights due diligence into everything we do.”

This newspaper also shared its questions with the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi, and Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom for response. However, no response was shared until the time the story went to press.

The NSO group gained some kind of notoriety after it emerged that Pegasus had infected at least 1,400 numbers across the world through WhatsApp. Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, has already filed a suit against NSO in US courts for illegally breaking into WhatsApp.

Despite the controversy it has attracted in recent times, “Q Cyber Technologies”, the parent company of NSO, continues to remain active in the world of cyber espionage. It was one of the main sponsors of “ISS World Asia”—touted as the world’s largest gathering of law enforcement agencies, intelligence analysts, electronic surveillance and intelligence gathering—which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the first week of December.

In the said event, “Q Cyber Technologies” had defined itself as a company that equipped select intelligence agencies, militaries and law enforcement organisations around the world with the strategic, tactical and analytical technology capabilities required to ensure the success of their operations in fighting crime and terrorism.
Riaz Haq said…
India’s Gandhi and Pakistan’s Khan tapped as targets in Israeli NSO spyware scandal - Tech News - Haaretz.com


https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/.premium-india-s-gandhi-and-pakistan-s-khan-tapped-as-israeli-nso-spyware-targets-1.10012729

Prominent Indian politician Rahul Gandhi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan were selected as potential targets of the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware program by clients of the NSO Group cyberespionage firm, a global investigation can reveal Monday.

Additional potential targets included Pakistani officials, including a number once associated with Pakistani leader Khan. They also included Kashmiri separatists, leading Tibetan religious figures and even an Indian supreme court judge. Khan did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Post.

Gandhi, who said he changes phones every few months to avoid being hacked, said in response: “Targeted surveillance of the type you describe, whether in regard to me, other leaders of the opposition or indeed any law-abiding citizen of India, is illegal and deplorable.

According to an analysis of the Pegasus Project records, more than 180 journalists were selected in 21 countries by at least 12 NSO clients. The potential targets and clients hail from Bahrain, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, India, Mexico, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Togo and Rwanda.

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India is Israel’s biggest arms market, buying around $1 billion worth of weapons every year, according to Reuters. The two countries have grown closer since Modi became Indian prime minister in 2014, widening commercial cooperation beyond their longstanding defense ties. Modi became the first sitting Indian leader to visit Israel in July 2017, while former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a state visit to India at the start of 2018
Riaz Haq said…
Facebook says hackers in Pakistan targeted Afghan users amid government collapse

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-facebook-says-hackers-pakistan-targeted-afghan-users-amid-government-2021-11-16/

Hackers from Pakistan used Facebook to target people in Afghanistan with connections to the previous government during the Taliban's takeover of the country, the company's threat investigators said in an interview with Reuters.

Facebook (FB.O) said the group, known in the security industry as SideCopy, shared links to websites hosting malware which could surveil people's devices. Targets included people connected to the government, military and law enforcement in Kabul, it said. Facebook said it removed SideCopy from its platform in August.

The social media company, which recently changed its name to Meta, said the group created fictitious personas of young women as "romantic lures" to build trust and trick targets into clicking phishing links or downloading malicious chat apps. It also compromised legitimate websites to manipulate people into giving up their Facebook credentials.

"It's always difficult for us to speculate as to the end goal of the threat actor," said Facebook's head of cyber espionage investigations, Mike Dvilyanski. "We don't know exactly who was compromised or what the end result of that was."


Major online platforms and email providers including Facebook, Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) LinkedIn have said they took steps to lock down Afghan users' accounts during the Taliban's swift takeover of the country this past summer. read more

Facebook said it had not previously disclosed the hacking campaign, which it said ramped up between April and August, due to safety concerns about its employees in the country and the need for more work to investigate the network. It said it shared information with the U.S. State Department at the time it took down the operation, which it said had appeared "well-resourced and persistent."
Riaz Haq said…
Cyber Weapons And Fragile Peace Between India And Pakistan – OpEd
 January 22, 2021  Fatima Ahmed and Tajjalla Munir*  0 Comments
By Fatima Ahmed and Tajjalla Munir*



https://www.eurasiareview.com/22012021-cyber-weapons-and-fragile-peace-between-india-and-pakistan-oped/





After the advent of nuclear weapons, cyber weapons are the most destructive thing that we can imagine in this contemporary world. Nuclear weapons can lead to tangible damage. In the age when the world has become a global village, cyber weapons pose a threat to international peace. Cyberspace provided the fifth domain in the area of armed conflict. Previously, they were air, land, sea, and space.  Nuclear weapons are generally used for deterrence purposes and they are mostly used or considered as last option weapons, cyber-attack on the other hand can be materialized when there is no apparent conflict between two states. Due to the deep enmity between Indian and Pakistan, it will always a threat that both countries can target each other in cyberspace. When a cyber-attack is launched against India and Pakistan, they will blame each other but the perpetrators of this attack could be the third party. That could be state-sponsored cyber-attack or even non-state actors and individuals could carry out such endeavors. This has already happened, when a cyber-attack targeted some websites in India. Initially, Pakistan was made responsible for these attacks but later it was revealed that the offensive was done by a third party. It was due to insecurity and doubt present in both states about each other’s intentions or capabilities. While initially cyber-attacks can be very limited in scope but there are fair chances that it could escalate which could result in a conflict with the use of conventional weapons. Therefore in modern times, cyber weapons pose a great threat to the peaceful relations between India and Pakistan. That will ultimately lead to regional instability.
Riaz Haq said…
National Center for Cyber Security For Cyber Threats
Becoming an anonymous personality is a super easy task in the online space. All that one needs to do is hide the IP. The IP address makes it easier to trace online activities. You can find your IP address on What Is My IP. However, just because cyber threats exist, it does not mean one can prevent oneself from engaging in online activities. With proper digital hygiene along with government efforts, a country can mitigate cyber threats.

https://nation.com.pk/2022/07/07/the-role-of-national-center-for-cyber-security-in-pakistan/


In 2018, the Government of Pakistan established the National Centre for Cyber Security or NCCS. It was a joint initiative of the Planning Commission and Higher Education Commission. The body currently works in cybercrime forensics, smart devices, and network security.



New ways of committing cyber crimes are emerging with each passing year. Therefore, research and development are critical in fighting different cyber crimes. It is where the role of the National Center for Cyber Security comes in. NCCS deals with both applied and theoretical areas for fighting cybercrime.



It is known for its research on areas like Cyber Reconnaissance, Cybercrime Investigations, Blockchain Security, Digital Forensics, IoT Security, Intrusion Detection Systems, Mobile Phone Security, Internet Security and Privacy, Critical Infrastructure Security and Malware Analysis.

Cyber Security Policy Of Pakistan Is Evolving
In addition to bodies like NCCS, it is also important to have a solid cybersecurity policy. The Government of Pakistan recently approved a new cybersecurity policy to fight electronic crime. The policy will prove to be helpful for both the public and private institutions in fighting cybercrime. The policy will birth a secure cyber ecosystem in the country with the help of new governance and institutional framework. It will additionally support a computer emergency response team and a security operations centre at the institutional, sector and national level.



Further, the Government of Pakistan will work on improving general awareness of cyber security amongst the passes through public awareness campaigns, skill development and training programs.

Why Is Cyber Security Knowledge Important?
Security awareness is important in all sectors, including the domain of cyber security too. The interconnected system is essential to survive in the current digitised world. However, it comes with a risk a cyber security knowledge can mitigate. Without proper cyber security knowledge, it is easy to fall prey to online crime. The result will be that people will start losing their trust in the digital world, which can prove dangerous for any country in the digital age of digitisation.



Further, it is not enough to ensure the technology and infrastructure required to support it. Government should inform the people about the risks and help them fight it. Only through these methods can a country lay a strong foundation for further digitisation of the country.



Pakistan’s ranking on the Global CyberSecurity Index is disappointing. Therefore, the newly brought cyber security policy was a much-needed change to improve its ranking in future studies. With strong cyber security laws, Pakistan can promote easy socio-economic development. Thankfully, the Government of Pakistan is working towards it. For instance, a cyberattack on any Pakistan institution under the new policy will be considered an act of aggression against national sovereignty. The government will take all the necessary steps to punish the offender for dealing with it.
Riaz Haq said…
Ignite Conducts Karachi Qualifier Round of Digital Pakistan Cybersecurity Hackathon 2022

https://propakistani.pk/2022/12/02/ignite-conducts-karachi-qualifier-round-of-digital-pakistan-cybersecurity-hackathon-2022/


Ignite National Technology Fund, a public sector company with the Ministry of IT & Telecom, conducted the qualifier round of Digital Pakistan Cybersecurity Hackathon 2022 in Karachi on 1st December 2022 after conducting qualifier rounds at Quetta and Lahore.

The Cybersecurity Hackathon aims to improve the cybersecurity readiness, protection, and incident response capabilities of the country by conducting cyber drills at a national level and identifying cybersecurity talent for public and private sector organizations.

Dr. Zain ul Abdin, General Manager Ignite, stated that Ignite was excited about organizing Pakistan’s 2nd nationwide cybersecurity hackathon in five cities this year. The purpose of the Cyber Security Hackathon 2022 is to train and prepare cyber security experts in Pakistan, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Asim Shahryar Husain, CEO Ignite, said, “The goal of the cybersecurity hackathon is to create awareness about the rising importance of cybersecurity for Pakistan and also to identify and motivate cybersecurity talent which can be hired by public and private sector organizations to secure their networks from cyberattacks.”

“There is a shortage of 3-4 million cybersecurity professionals globally. So this is a good opportunity for Pakistan to build capacity of its IT graduates in cybersecurity so that they can boost our IT exports in future,” he added.

Chief guest, Mohsin Mushtaq, Additional Secretary (Incharge) IT & Telecommunication, said, “Digital Pakistan Cybersecurity Hackathon is a step towards harnessing the national talent to form a national cybersecurity response team.”

“Ignite will continue to hold such competitions every year to identify new talent. I would like to congratulate CEO Ignite and his team for holding such a marathon competition across Pakistan to motivate cybersecurity students and professionals all over the country,” he added.

Top cybersecurity experts were invited for keynote talks during the occasion including Moataz Salah, CEO Cyber Talents, Egypt, and Mehzad Sahar, Group Head InfoSec Engro Corp, who delivered the keynote address on Smart InfoSec Strategy.

Panelists from industry, academia, and MoITT officials participated in two panel discussions on “Cyber Threats and Protection Approaches” and “Indigenous Capability & Emerging Technologies” during the event.

The event also included a cybersecurity quiz competition in which 17 teams participated from different universities. The top three teams in the competition were awarded certificates.

41 teams competed from Karachi in the Digital Pakistan Cybersecurity Hackathon 2022.

The top three teams shortlisted after the eight-hour hackathon were: “Team Control” (Winner); “Revolt” (1st Runner-up); and “ASD” (2nd Runner-up).

These top teams will now compete in the final round of the hackathon in Islamabad later this month.

Riaz Haq said…
Cyber Warfare And Emerging Technologies: Securing Pakistan’s Future – OpEd – Eurasia Review

https://www.eurasiareview.com/22102024-cyber-warfare-and-emerging-technologies-securing-pakistans-future-oped/


As technology continues to evolve, future wars will likely be fought not by humans alone but with machines playing a central role. However, human control may still influence the operations of these machines, especially in cyber warfare.

Today, states have a variety of methods to attack each other that go beyond conventional warfare. These include cyber operations alongside military, economic, or political strategies. With emerging innovations and recent technological advancements, cyberspace has become a new domain of warfare, presenting complex threats. From a national security perspective, cyber warfare—the use of information technology to infiltrate a country’s classified databases or strike its essential systems—is one of the most menacing forms of conflict.

The frequency and intensity of cyber warfare are increasing, fueled by the advancement of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing (QC). These technologies not only amplify the number of cyber threats but also increase their sophistication. To secure its place as a dominant force in cyberspace, Pakistan must begin mastering these cyber realms today. By positioning itself as a hub of AI and QC, Pakistan can make a significant global impact.

Cyber Warfare
Cyber warfare refers to computer and network operations intended to control or disrupt vital ICT resources in a state or government, aiming to cause harm or espionage. In many countries, the dependency on technology has made cyber threats more frequent.

A historic example is the Morris Worm, the first major hacker attack that affected up to six thousand computers, causing losses ranging from one hundred thousand to millions of dollars. It targeted Unix operating systems, deleting files and slowing down operations. Another significant incident was the Stuxnet Worm, used by the United States against Iran’s nuclear program. Stuxnet not only destroyed nearly 1,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, delaying Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but it also infected Windows computers and networks, spreading rapidly through a USB drive.

AI and Quantum Computing in Warfare
AI and QC are shaping the future of technology and warfare. AI, which processes vast amounts of data and runs algorithms to identify patterns, is highly advanced and adaptable. However, its potential use in weapon technology raises serious concerns. QC, with its unparalleled computational power, can perform calculations simultaneously by leveraging quantum mechanics.

Both AI and QC pose serious threats to national security because of their autonomous capabilities and the difficulty of preventing them from being exploited. AI systems, which can simulate human intelligence, are revolutionizing problem-solving and innovation but are also susceptible to cyberattacks. Data breaches in centralized servers, which house sensitive information, can expose AI systems to these attacks, allowing hackers to target critical infrastructure like power grids or classified databases.

In military operations, the integration of AI—especially in autonomous weapon systems—could surpass conventional forces in terms of both damage and risk. However, for a country like Pakistan, AI has the potential to strengthen cyber defenses and augment intelligence capabilities, providing a vital edge in defense strategies. Properly managed, AI could defend against emerging cyber threats while significantly improving data analysis and cybersecurity efforts.
October 22, 2024 at 11:33 AM

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