Govt Employees Banned From Using Personal Phones and Emails For Work

Government workers are prohibited from utilizing e-Office and other classified government portals through personal devices, as well as employing private email services like Gmail and Yahoo for official communications, according to the National Cybersecurity Handbook 2026-27 issued by Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (PKCERT).

The handbook outlines cybersecurity guidelines for both federal and provincial government employees and officials from public-sector organizations. It stipulates that official correspondence and departmental tasks must be conducted solely through government-provided email accounts; employees are strictly forbidden from forwarding messages from official accounts to personal inboxes or registering their government email addresses on shopping, gaming, and social media platforms.

Officials are directed to carry out government duties using authorized computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. In cases where government-issued equipment is unavailable, prior departmental approval is required before a personal device can be utilized for official purposes, and the device must adhere to specified security standards.

National CERT cautions that using personal accounts and unauthorized devices could lead to the exposure of sensitive government information, the spread of malware, and the compromise of audit trails during cyber incident investigations. Employees have been additionally instructed not to connect personal USB drives, external hard disks, or mobile phones to official devices.