NTC has clarified a news item circulated in the media wherein Snowden’s documents have been referred reporting that US hacked NTC to spy on Pakistan Military & Political leadership.
The Snowden’s report that secret documents have been hacked by implanting SECONDDATE Malware, a malicious code that is used to monitor or control the network.
The news report said that in April 2013 successful attacks against computer system in Pakistan were made. It has been mentioned in report that hackers used SECONDDATE malware to breach Pakistan Telecommunication VIP Division containing documents pertaining to Pakistan Telecommunication Green Line communication Network.
NTC, in a press statement, clarified that the Green Line communication Network is a dedicated standalone hardware intensive system with no connectivity with internet cloud.
The Green Line Exchanges of NTC are connected with secure fiber link having no link with public Switching System of NTC or any other Telecom Operators, the NTC said. Therefore, the possibility of any intrusion in main communication lines under question is ruled out and accessing these exchanges through internet or implanting any malware is extremely remote.
NTC Green line exchanges are secure and not prone to hacking.
However, the NTC admitted, cyber security is a serious global subject and technically measures for cyber attacks to compromise internet connected infrastructure are continuously being developed.
At the same time protection measures are also continuously being put in place. In the same spirit NTC is continuously deploying state of the art counter hacking measures to ward off untoward incidents.
