ISLAMABAD:
The government has constituted a national committee to formulate an information security framework aimed at countering communications and cyber networks operated by hostile agencies.
According to a notification, the committee — titled National Committee for Information and Communications Security (NCICS) — will be headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications.
Its members include the Director General (Technical) of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Director General of the National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT), a former Additional Secretary of the Establishment Division, the Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Technology Security Board (NTISB) and the Secretary of the Cabinet Division.
The committee will assess and monitor the information systems of federal departments, divisions, and government organizations to identify vulnerabilities, conduct gap assessments, evaluate the effectiveness of existing information security processes, and recommend measures to mitigate risks and strengthen the overall security posture of information systems.
It will also analyze cybersecurity and IT audits conducted by the NTISB and NCERT to formulate recommendations and remedial measures to improve the national cybersecurity governance framework.
It will also proceed with the development of the human resources framework for cybersecurity, the implementation of technical controls and the streamlining of security aspects in the procurement of cyber and IT systems. The committee will also undertake gap assessments in critical sectors such as healthcare, energy, civil aviation and transportation to identify information system vulnerabilities and recommend cybersecurity measures.
It will also formulate a compliance mechanism duly integrating essential information security controls linked to organizational key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure effective monitoring and implementation.
It will establish a Federal CERT (FCERT) under NCERT as per CERT Rules 2023 to focus on information security aspects of all government ministries, divisions and organizations.
