The National Assembly Standing committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication stressed for regulating the social media giants including Facebook, Twitter and Tik Tok while observing that they have negatively affected the social norms and values.
The committee met with Ali Khan Jadoon in the chair here on Tuesday where a detailed briefing was given on the establishment of the National Centre on Cyber Crimes.
National Cyber Security Policy
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication informed the committee that the National Cyber Security Policy has been drafted and shared with intelligence agencies. However, parliamentarians were surprised to hear this while saying that the policy draft is not shared with the parliament but agencies. The committee recommended that public interest should not be affected under the grab of national security.
It was also revealed that the draft policy is not even shared with the National Centre for Cyber Security (NCCS), which is a matter of great concern. The committee was informed that Pakistan is at a very low in ranking on the Global Cyber Security Index (GCSI).
Need for a national cybersecurity policy
Director National Center for Cyber Security (NCCS) said that digital assets are at risk as cybersecurity has no borders. There is a need for a national cybersecurity policy but also the strategy to deal with cyber threats effectively.
Director NCCS further said that under the center, 11 forensic labs have been established in 10 universities. There is a plan to set up more centers for which Rs. 1.2 billion have been allocated. The center has produced a mobile forensic tool, computer forensic tool, social media forensic, IoT firewall, blockchain security tool, vulnerability scanning tool and intrusion detection solution.
However, the committee expressed serious concerns while observing that the Ministry of IT was not taken on board on NCCS. The committee recommended that rules may be amended to add cybersecurity in the Ministry of IT domain.
Parliamentarians raised several issues being faced by them concerning the Cyber Crime and urged the FIA and PTA for their resolution.
The Additional Director (FIA) briefed the Committee regarding the report on complaints/ questions raised by members in the previous meeting.
He said that some of the suspects involved in the Cyber Crime had been arrested while the devices recovered from them were sent to the forensic laboratories. On receipt of the report thereupon from the forensic laboratories, final challans will be submitted to the Courts of Law for further course of action.
The committee was informed that Khalid Wazir, Deputy Director (WAD), PTA and Iftikhar Aziz, Assistant Director FIA (Cyber Crime Wing) have been nominated as Focal Persons to address the Cyber Crime issues being faced by the parliamentarians.
PTCL Optical Fiber Lines
The Committee deferred the agenda item regarding the recommendations of the Sub-Committee, appointed under the Convenership of Sher Ali Arbab, MNA, owing to non-attendance of meeting by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PTCL, and directed that the Ministry should ensure attendance of the CEO, PTCL in the next meeting.
While briefing on the reasons for the lack of PTCL Optical Fiber Lines in District Malir, Karachi and plan to lay the said lines in the locality; a representative from PTCL apprised the Committee that fourteen PTCL Exchanges in District Malir are connected through Optical Fiber Network.
The total Optical Fiber cable footprint in District Malir is approximately 347km which feeds fourteen telephone exchanges and 137 MSAGs in the area, he added.
The Committee directed the PTCL authorities to complete the said project as soon as possible.
The meeting was attended by MNAs, Sahibzada Sibgatullah, Sher Ali Arbab, Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Wattoo, Muhammad Aslam Khan, Javairia Zafar Aheer, Nusrat Wahid, Muhammad Hashim, Ali Gohar Khan, Romina Khursheed Alam, Maiza Hameed, Shamim Ara Panhwar, Mahesh Kumar Malani, Naz Baloch and Syed Mehmood Shah besides Minister for IT & T, senior officers of the Ministry of IT & T, PTCL, PTA, NTC and FIA.
