Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication reported a major cyber-attack on the government of Pakistan’s websites on Tuesday.
However, no data theft has been reported.
According to a ministry spokesperson, the Federal Minister for IT and Telecom Aminul Haque said the cyber-attack attempt on the NTC system of the IT Ministry was foiled.
Read more: Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) under cyber attack
There are websites of various departments on NTC servers, said Haque, adding that the cyber attack took place at 11:30 in the morning.
The attack failed due to a comprehensive cyber security system, said the minister, adding that the websites of some departments were automatically suspended due to the cyber attack.
The minister said all the websites were back to normal within three hours.
Haque said, the cyber-attack was not on the data center but was rather aimed at the network side.
According to a threat intelligence report, National Technology Council (NTC), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), and Multinet were the main targets.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has called a meeting today and sought details from all departments.
Read more: Cyberattack on NBP: No disruption in digital banking services
On the other hand, the National Telecommunication & Information Security Board (NTISB) also released a cautionary statement: “Dear all, severe DDoS attack has been observed in Pakistan. All are requested to please arrange to take appropriate measures to ensure the security of your respective organizations. According to a threat intelligence report, NTC, PTCL, Cybernet, and Multinet are the main targets.”
It’s worth noting that a cyber-attack on the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was reported last year, disrupting its activities. However, this time, there has been no compromise of any data.