ISLAMABAD: A security firm says fake smartphone apps laden with malware are targeting Pakistan's military and government.
A report Wednesday by Canadian company Blackberry identifies new espionage campaigns attempting to steal sensitive data from mobile devices.
Blackberry says it doesn't know who is responsible for the campaigns but says it likely involves state-sponsored hacking groups.
The report says one of the fake apps promised news about Kashmir. India imposed a security lockdown in August on the India-administered region, detaining thousands and cutting off telecommunications for days.
Other fake apps mimicked a pornography website, a dating chat service and a disaster relief organization, the Ansar Foundation.
The apps often utilized Google's Android operating system and were distributed through email or on social media messaging services such as WhatsApp.
Blackberry, a former mobile phone giant now shifted to the security business, says the campaigns reflect a global trend of hackers targeting mobile devices because people use them for work and in their personal lives.
"I don't think we saw examples where they were targeting specific individuals," said the company's Brian Robison. "It was more of a broad stroke."
Blackberry's report also outlines ongoing smartphone malware campaigns in other parts of the world in which hackers appear to be acting in the interests of the Chinese, Iranian, Vietnamese and North Korean governments. One common thread among the different campaigns: they interwove mobile malware into more conventional strategies targeting desktop computers.
Robison said many people have been falsely lulled into thinking their phones are more trustworthy.
"We put a lot of trust in the public app stores to try to keep us safe," he said.
Smartphone malware targeting Pakistani officials
Smartphone malware targeting Pakistani officials
- Blackberry identifies new espionage campaigns attempting to steal sensitive data from mobile devices
- Report says one of the fake apps promised news about Kashmir
Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
