ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA) on Wednesday participated in the annual cyberwarfare drill organized by the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) to test the capability of leading Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT) in the Asia Pacific and other regions of the world.
The exercise simulated real incidents and issues that exist on the Internet, informed an official statement released by the regional body, adding that the participants handled a case of a local business affected by malware infection triggered by data breach.
“This cyber drill is a competition between 25 countries to test their cyber capabilities,” said PISA President Ammar Jaffri while talking to Arab News. “There are tests called artifacts [products developed into different phases of software testing life cycle] and [the simulation is] like cyberwarfare or cyber games.”
“The people taking part in the cyber drill have to tell what was the pattern of the attack, what was the area of the attack, how much damage has been incurred, and how the damage has been mitigated,” Jaffri, a veteran cyber security expert who founded the Federal Investigation Agency’s National Response Center for Cyber Crime (NR3C) in 2007, continued.
He added that his team secured the third position in the cyber competition drill last year. However, the result of this year’s ranking is scheduled to be announced on March 13.
Experts have frequently pointed out that Pakistan lacks a comprehensive cybersecurity policy. In November last year, a European nonprofit organization, EU DisinfoLab, uncovered a huge Indian network of 265 fake media outlets spread across 65 countries that designed content “to influence [the policymaking processes of] the European Union and the United Nations by repeatedly criticizing Pakistan.” However, the country lacked the institutional mechanism to deal with the problem and only became aware of its magnitude after the EU DisinfoLab reported its findings.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has introduced special cyber laws to police the internet and social media platforms to block content that is deemed against local sensitivities.
Jaffri said that Pakistan needed to devise a policy framework and develop an institutional mechanism to handle online challenges since the country was gradually moving toward digital economy.
“Cyberspace is by default global,” he noted, “so we have to respond to the global initiatives as a country.”
Pakistani organization participates in cyberwarfare exercise
https://arab.news/phrz7
Pakistani organization participates in cyberwarfare exercise
- The country’s gradual shift to digital economy has made it more vulnerable to online threats
- The cyber drill is a competition between 25 countries to test their cyber capabilities
India and Pakistan set for World Cup blockbuster as boycott averted
- With bilateral cricket a casualty of their relations, emotions run high whenever the neighbors meet in multi-team events
- For Pakistan, opener Sahibzada Farhan has looked in fine form but Babar Azam’s strike rate continues to polarize opinion
India and Pakistan will clash in the Twenty20 World Cup in Colombo on Sunday, still feeling the aftershocks of a tumultuous fortnight in which Pakistan’s boycott threat — later reversed — nearly blew a hole in the tournament’s marquee fixture.
With bilateral cricket a casualty of their fraught relations, emotions run high whenever the bitter neighbors lock horns in multi-team events at neutral venues.
India’s strained relations with another neighbor, Bangladesh, have further tangled the geopolitics around the World Cup.
When Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team field for refusing to tour India over safety concerns, the regional chessboard shifted.
Pakistan decided to boycott the Group A contest against India in solidarity with Bangladesh, jeopardizing a lucrative fixture that sits at the intersection of sport, commerce, and geopolitics.
Faced with the prospect of losing millions of dollars in evaporating advertising revenue, the broadcasters panicked. The governing International Cricket Council (ICC) held hectic behind-the-scenes parleys and eventually brokered a compromise to salvage the tournament’s most sought-after contest.
Strictly on cricketing merit, however, the rivalry has been one-sided.
Defending champions India have a 7-1 record against Pakistan in the tournament’s history and they underlined that dominance at last year’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
India beat Pakistan three times in that single event, including a stormy final marred by provocative gestures and snubbed handshakes.
Former India captain Rohit Sharma does not believe in the “favorites” tag, especially when the arch-rivals clash.
“It’s such a funny game,” Rohit, who led India to the title in the T20 World Cup two years ago, recently said.
“You can’t just go and think that it’s a two-point victory for us. You just have to play good cricket on that particular day to achieve those points.”
INDIA’S EDGE
Both teams have opened their World Cup campaigns with back-to-back wins, yet India still appear to hold a clear edge.
Opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy currently top the batting and bowling rankings respectively.
Abhishek is doubtful for the Pakistan match though as he continues to recover from a stomach infection that kept him out of their first two matches.
Ishan Kishan has reinvented himself as a top-order linchpin, skipper Suryakumar Yadav has regained form, while Rinku Singh has settled into the finisher’s role in India’s explosive lineup.
Mystery spinner Chakravarthy and the ever-crafty Jasprit Bumrah anchor the spin and pace units, while Hardik Pandya’s all-round spark is pivotal.
For Pakistan, opener Sahibzada Farhan has looked in fine form but Babar Azam’s strike rate continues to polarize opinion.
Captain Salman Agha will bank on spin-bowling all-rounder Saim Ayub, but the potential trump card is off-spinner Usman Tariq, whose slinging, side-arm action has intrigued opponents and fans alike.
