The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Friday revealed that security agencies have foiled hacking attempts targetting senior government officials’ mobile phones to obtain sensitive information.
A statement released by the PMO maintained that hackers posing as senior government officials and bureaucrats were trying to obtain information through mobile hacking links on WhatsApp.
The PMO has instructed all government officials to be “vigilant and not respond to any such message”. They have also been directed to immediately inform the Cabinet Division upon receiving these messages.
The statement further stated that Pakistan’s security agencies are “fully alert in this matter”.
Earlier this year, the federal government sent a cybersecurity advisory to all its ministries as well as the provincial departments to take necessary measures to prevent the official data from being hacked or put on the dark web, a media report said.
The advisory had suggested several steps, including the application of two-factor authentication on all email, social media and banking accounts; avoiding installing untrusted software and unnecessary plugins on browsers and never forwarding, or clicking a link shared on email or WhatsApp by unknown sources.
The dark web, or darknet, is a part of the internet that lies beyond the reach of search engines. Users are largely anonymous and untraceable and mainly pay with cryptocurrencies, the report had said, adding that the dark web is being used by criminals, terrorists, hostile intelligence agencies (HIAs) and non-state actors.
