Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is establishing the National Telecom Security Operations and Threat Intelligence Centre (nTSOC) to safeguard the country’s critical telecom infrastructure and to contribute to combating cyber security threats at the national level.
PTA has already established the sector-specific National Telecom Computer Emergency Readiness Team (nTCERT) in 2020 for coordination with the industry on cyber security and threat intelligence. A web portal was also established in early 2021 for two-way coordination with the industry and to automate the CERT processes.
Both nTSOC and nTCERT will jointly function to provide integrated security awareness, advanced threat intelligence, and monitor the telecom cyber threat landscape 24/7 to effectively detect cyberattacks targeting the telecom sector.
This will also facilitate real-time coordination with the industry for proactive and timely countermeasures on important security alerts, remediation for incidents, and continual improvement of the overall cyber security posture.
On the flip side, PTA has prepared a consultation paper on nTSOC and started consulting with local and international stakeholders. The regulator’s consultation with local vendors revolves around acquiring indigenous and homegrown nTSOC solutions.
The solution primarily includes sector-specific unified Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), incident management, case management, and unified cyber threat intelligence. According to the PTA, the finalization of the tendering process on establishing nTSOC is also underway.
The telecom regulator has shared the nTCERT portal’s secure access with all licensees. Several telecom operators are currently using the nTCERT portal for threat intelligence information exchange, security readiness, and compliance. PTA’s cyber security team issued approximately 127 security advisories and more than 100 security alerts to telecom operators on the latest cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
