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
Pakistan vaccinates over 44.6 million in final anti-polio drive of 2025
- Pakistan has reported 30 polio cases so far this year, underscoring fragile progress against virus
- Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has vaccinated 44.6 million children against poliovirus in the last nationwide immunization campaign of the year, health authorities said on Monday.
The seven-day anti-polio campaign was launched on Dec. 15, targeting children under the age of five. It was conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), which oversees eradication efforts.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where transmission of the wild poliovirus has never been interrupted, posing a risk to global eradication efforts. The virus, which can cause irreversible paralysis, has no cure and can only be prevented through repeated oral vaccination.
“The final National Polio Eradication Campaign of 2025 has been successfully concluded,” the EOC said in a statement. “During the national polio campaign, vaccination of more than 44.6 million children was successfully completed.”
Giving a breakdown of the numbers, the EOC said approximately 22.9 million children have received polio drops in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, around 10.6 million in Sindh, more than 7.1 million in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and more than 2.54 million children in Balochistan.
In Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, over 450,000 children received polio drops while in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, approximately 274,000 children have been vaccinated, the NEOC said.
In Azad Jammu & Kashmir, over 714,000 children received polio drops.
Pakistan has reported 30 polio cases so far in 2025, underscoring the fragility of progress against the virus. The country recorded 74 cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six cases in 2023, reflecting setbacks linked to vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and access challenges in high-risk areas.
Health officials say insecurity remains a major obstacle. Polio workers and their security escorts have repeatedly been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, complicating efforts to reach every child.
A gun attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur district on Dec. 16 left one police constableand a civilian dead.
Natural disasters, including flooding, have also disrupted vaccination campaigns in recent years.
“Polio workers and security personnel who served during the national campaign are the true heroes of the nation,” the EOC said.
