Pakistan Gears Up To Fight Cyber Crime

In the wake of terror threats in the country, the government of Pakistan has decided to install high-tech mechanism to counter cyber terrorism.

Pakistan has allotted $3 million to set up a Center for Cyber Crime. Several trends in the country have bolstered this center. First the national economy is heavily reliant on Internet access. Thus some level of national Internet security is necessary without which the country is likely to extensively become, hackers' target. Secondly, Islamic terrorists increasingly use the Internet for dangerous communications.

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has signed its approval for the project. The Party will set up a 'national response center for cyber crime' in Islamabad with regional offices in Karachi and Lahore. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will monitor these offices.

The American intelligence agencies operating in Pakistan together with Pakistan police have demonstrated a range of non-categorized equipments and techniques that can monitor online terrorist activities, protect the Internet, and track down criminals operating through the Internet. However, the government is reluctant to depend on the American agencies for such services.

While Pakistan welcomes American help, it too has a large and growing software industry. In fact late in 1970s, Pakistan programmers created the first computer virus, the "Brain Virus". This virus was to protect software that a company in Pakistan was marketing. But the Brian virus turned out uncontrollable, and then more stories followed. The quintessence of all this is that Pakistan has enormous domestic talent that it can put to use in its computer crime center.

The project will strive to control cyber crime and combat issues like destruction to data and electronic systems, e-fraud and forgery, illegal access of login accounts and abuse of encryption, cyber theft, spamming, unauthorized intrusion and cyber terrorism. In this way the project would increase the power of Pakistan government and FIA to curb the country's large-scale cyber crime.

Moreover in light of ongoing war between Indian and Pakistani hackers, the government wants to prepare on this front. The hackers are engaged in vandalism such as defacing websites and similar incidences. Thus Pakistan is initiating preventive measures through this project.

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» SPAMfighter News - 3/1/2007