The Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, (PECA) 2016 does not include so many important aspects of cybercrimes being committed in our country, stated by Sheikh Sultan Rehman, Vice President FPCCI during an interactive webinar on “Cyber Security: Threats to Digital Pakistan” organized by FPCCI Head Office Karachi. The webinar was attended by Mehmood ul Hasan, Deputy Director National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C)-FIA, Bilal Abbasi, Director IT, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, M.A. Zaeem, Deputy Director Cyber Crime Wing FIA, Ammar Jaffri, Founder President Pakistan Information Security Association, Qazi M. Misbah uddin, CEO Pak-CERT, Zaheema Iqbal, Cyber Security Policy Researcher, Bahria University, Mehreen Ilahi President Karachi WCCI (East) and Mohsin Sheikh, MD Trillium Information Security System.

While chairing the webinar, Sheikh Sultan Rehman emphasized on the timely and robust implementation of PECA 2016, which can reduce the already increasing rate of cybercrimes in the country. He further mentioned that improved infrastructure for cybersecurity is not only crucial for the financial and social safety of the people, but it is also essential to fight cyber warfare. During the discussion, M.A. Zaeem said that increased cybersecurity is the need of the time to decrease the cybercrime in our country. He further requested the business community to realize the significance of cyber and information security. Ammar Jaffri that suggested FPCCI to establish FPCCI-CERT and offered his technological expertise for the business community.

Bilal Abbasi said that the ministry of IT is working on the draft Personal Data Protection Bill that will be an authentic framework of cybersecurity in the country. He also endorsed the establishment of FPCCI-CERT. Mehmood ul Hassan said that implementation of the law is an equal responsibility of public and private sector and events like these will improve the coordination between both. He also noted that technology moves very fast and our public sector have to move at the same pace to fight the modern-day challenges. Zaheema Iqbal highlighted the significance of awareness, regulation and data governance to improve our cybersecurity infrastructure. Qazi Misbah Uddin recommended applying penalties on companies on their weak information security systems, which will reduce the cybercrime in the country. Mohsin Sheikh said that we as a country must focus on legislation, regulation and certification to strengthen our information and cybersecurity infrastructure.

While concluding the webinar, Sheikh Sultan Rehman offered collaboration with NR3C and Ministry of IT to conduct workshops and seminars to spread awareness amongst the business community regarding the importance of strong cyber and information security.