Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 cyberattacks so far in 2026, the country’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (National CERT) told the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom on Tuesday, in a briefing that laid bare how thinly stretched the agency is. Director General Haider Abbas informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom that the organisation works with a staff of just 70 people — and while it has deployed artificial intelligence agents to watch for threats, 70 per cent of its work is still done the manual way.
The disclosure lands at a moment when Pakistan’s digital footprint is expanding fast, with the IT ministry pushing a nationwide digital transformation and social media use climbing sharply. The committee’s questions suggested lawmakers are increasingly uneasy about whether the country’s cyber defences are keeping pace.
What National CERT told the committee
Haider Abbas told lawmakers that only 30 per cent of the agency’s threat-monitoring work depends on artificial intelligence, with the remaining 70 per cent handled manually. He said Pakistan operates a security monitoring center that identifies and tracks cyber threats.
The disclosure prompted pointed questions from committee members, who asked whether leaning on AI could itself open up new security risks or compromise the systems it is meant to protect. The DG defended the agency’s approach and walked the committee through how the monitoring center functions.
Attacks spike around Independence Day and Defence Day
The committee chairman raised a worrying pattern: hacking attempts against Pakistan increase around major national events, particularly August 14 (Independence Day) and September 6 (Defence Day). He pressed the agency on what concrete measures were in place to guard critical systems on those dates. The discussion, the committee noted, underlined the need for stronger monitoring and better cybersecurity arrangements at moments of national attention.
Annual cybersecurity audits planned for every institution
Abbas also briefed the committee on Pakistan’s Information Security Framework Rules, approved in 2023, which give the government a yardstick to measure how well institutions protect themselves. Under the framework, every institution will go through an annual cybersecurity audit. The IT secretary added that each province has nominated departments to carry cybersecurity responsibilities.
Data protection worries and what comes next
The meeting also exposed anxiety about data protection. MNA Musa Gilani said several weaknesses still exist in Pakistan’s data protection systems and argued that citizens’ personal data should remain within the country. The Director General of the Pakistan Digital Authority said digital infrastructure carries significant data-related risks, called for a dedicated data regulator, and stressed the need for proper supervision of AI as Pakistan expands its digital footprint.
Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja clarified the regulator’s role, saying regulators do not directly run an organisation’s operations or make its policy. She added that data-related matters would follow standards issued by the Pakistan Digital Authority, an institution she said was created under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Digital Pakistan vision. The meeting also discussed a proposed national commission for digital strategy, headed by the prime minister, to make sure approved digital policies are actually implemented in the provinces.
Read also: PTA Chief Warns Pakistan a ‘Prime Target’ for Cyberattacks: Fake OTP Messages, Thousands of Fake Videos Hit Citizens Daily and 326 Cyber Threats Hit Pakistan in a Year, PTA’s Dark Web Report Reveals
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