Islamabad:
The Director General of the National Intervention Team in the event of an emergency (CERT) has issued official warnings to 39 ministries and key government departments concerning potential cyberattacks involving a threat of Bluelocker ransomware, which could cause permanent loss of data, operational disturbance and a leak of sensitive information.
According to a letter disseminated by the national certificate, opinions have been issued to prevent attacks against the main federal institutions. These cyber attacks, in the event of success, could paralyze the continuity systems of the activities and compromise confidential state data.
The letter was sent to high -level officials, including the division of the secretary’s office, the interior secretary, the foreign affairs secretary, the DG Nacta, the DG FIA, the national security division, the division of the establishment, the electoral commission, the National Assembly and the PEMRA, among others.
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Additional recipients include the main ministries and regulatory organizations such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, NITB, NDMA, OGRA and FBR.
The opinion specifically warned that ransomware Bluelocker poses a threat of severe cybersecurity, urging all the departments to disseminate the council, isolate the infected systems of the networks without delay and to report incidents to the competent authorities.
Bluelocker targets Windows desktop computers, laptops, servers, networks and cloud storage platforms, the opinion said. It works by encrypting the files and then requesting a ransom for data recovery.
The national certificate advised to download from unconcetic sources and click on suspicious links or attachments. In addition, he called for immediate cybersecurity training for the staff of all the departments in order to identify phishing emails and malicious ties.
In light of the evolution of the landscape of threats, the departments were invited to strengthen their preparation and response protocols.
