Govt Issues Cyber Alert Over Threats to Military Equipment and Banks in Pakistan

that National Cyber ​​Emergency Response Team (NCERT) has issued a high priority advisory warning of heightened cyber threats amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the region.

The alert also warned of potential data breaches targeting military and government networks, ransomware attacks on banking systems, and psychological operations using deepfakes and fabricated stories to destabilize public order.

NCERT warned that rising insecurity has created an unstable environment that can be exploited by state-sponsored actors, hacktivist groups and cybercrime networks. Critical sectors such as defence, finance, government infrastructure, media, and essential utilities are considered high risk.

potential impact

According to the advisory, a successful cyberattack could lead to account takeover of official portals and media platforms, compromise of supply chains through third-party vendors, and disruption of critical infrastructure such as energy, transportation and communication systems.

Identified threat vector

NCERT has highlighted several attack methods currently observed or expected.

• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks targeting government portals and emergency services

• Deepfakes and synthetic media campaigns impersonating celebrities

• Spear phishing attempts targeting military and government personnel

• Malicious mobile applications with built-in spyware

• Credential stuffing attacks using weak or reused passwords

• Disinformation campaigns through fraudulent social media accounts

threat actor

The advisory identifies three main categories of threat actors: ideologically motivated hacktivist groups, highly sophisticated state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actors, and financially driven cybercrime organizations.

Affected Sectors

Key service providers, including financial institutions, government ministries, defense agencies, journalists, water, power and telecommunications providers, are considered particularly vulnerable. The general public has also been warned about phishing and malware campaigns.

Recommended Action

NCERT called for immediate implementation of enhanced cybersecurity measures, including:

• Build endpoint protection and mobile threat defense systems

• Require multi-factor authentication and eliminate SMS-based authentication

• Immediate patching of VPN, firewall, and operating system

• Use encrypted communication channels for sensitive data

• Constantly monitor system logs for suspicious external access attempts.

• Regular offline and air-gapped data backups

Organizations were also advised to conduct cybersecurity training, audit supply chain suppliers, adopt zero trust architecture, restrict foreign IP access to sensitive systems, and strengthen encryption standards.

The advisory calls on IT teams to proactively look for threats, organizations to conduct urgent security audits, and individuals to practice strict cyber hygiene and be vigilant against misinformation.

NCERT emphasized the importance of immediate adoption of multi-factor authentication, timely system patching and zero trust security framework to protect the nation’s infrastructure from sophisticated cyber threats associated with the current geopolitical environment.