ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan on Tuesday informed the Senate that the government had planned to set up a joint authority to address the issues of cyber crimes in the country.
Replying to a question, the minister said that a task force had been formed while Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have been working within their orbits to control cyber crimes.
He said that in case of any incident, a case was reported with the FIA while PTA can also do its job in this regard.
The minister said that the National Telecommunication and Information Technology Security board (NTISB) was mandated to ensure communication security within government departments and organizations and report any such breaches of security to concerned authorities.
He said that communication and IT security within government organizations had ensured in coordination with Ministry of IT, PTA, concerned security agencies through IT audit, certification for induction of cipher equipment and audit of security strength of IT equipment installed in public and private sector organizations.
In a written reply, the minister said that there was continuous monitoring of IT Infrastructure through technical tentacles and sharing of information regarding any cyber attack, intrusion and malwares with government organizations and departments through advisories.
He said that in the light of prevention of electronic crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) unlawful online contentment could be blocked and removed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) under section 37 thereof.
He said that PTAs rules under PECA were under review of the Inter Ministerial Committee, however, SOPs exist in line with PECA-2016 to handle unlawful content. For investigation of offences under PECA, FIA cyber crime has been designated as the authorized agency.
