NCCIA Warns Pakistan Lacks Real-Time View of Cyber Threats

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has expressed concern that Pakistan currently lacks real-time awareness of cyber threats affecting Critical Information Infrastructure across various sectors. This lack of visibility hampers the country's capacity to identify and react to significant cyber incidents. In a presentation to the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, the NCCIA detailed that the monitoring of sector-specific critical infrastructure typically occurs through Security Operations Centres, which are established and managed by the respective regulators and organizations.

Nevertheless, the agency noted that it presently does not possess direct access to a unified national threat-intelligence platform or a centralized threat-landscape dashboard. Such a system would enable real-time surveillance of cyber threats across all critical sectors. The absence of an integrated national mechanism for sharing cyber threat information could impede timely knowledge of the cyber threat scenario, early-warning capabilities, and coordinated incident response at the national level.

The NCCIA advised for enhanced sharing of cyber threat intelligence among regulators, Critical Information Infrastructure operators, and Security Operations Centres. It asserted that improved coordination would substantially bolster Pakistan's cyber resilience and its capacity to counter major cybersecurity incidents.