Financial institutions, a soft target for cyber criminals | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Financial institutions, a soft target for cyber criminals

Pakistan Press Foundation

LAHORE – Financial institutions are increasingly becoming the soft targets for cyber criminals affecting the technological progress in e-commerce area adversely, said an FIA officer.

Businessmen of Sialkot have requested FIA management to establish office of Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) in their city to confront with the cyber criminals.
Similar requests have been received from Faisalabad and Gujranwala since businessmen are being defrauded by the cyber criminals by stealing former’s identities, said the FIA officer.

In absence of sufficient laws cyber crime has grown alarmingly in the country because human rights activists and NGOs are opposing legislation against cyber crimes, he added.

FIA National Response Center for Cyber Crime (NR3C) received 2100 complaints during the year 2015 while 434 were pending from 2014 out of which 371 were converted into enquiries and 1604 were disposed of and 559 were still pending.

Similarly, NR3C received 298 enquiries brought forward from 2014 and during 2015, 460 enquiries were registered and out of total 758 enquiries 46 were converted into cases and 441 were disposed of, closed, transferred or merged and 271 remained pending.

142 cases were brought forward while 128 were registered during 2015 and out of total 270 cases 142 were challaned, five disposed of and 123 are pending, statistics issued by FIA showed.

NR3C had 44 proclaimed offenders on its list while two were added during 2015 and out of total 46 only six were arrested and 40 Pos are still at large.
Nine court absconders were forwarded and they are yet to be arrested.

E-mail accounts and social media website accounts were being hacked, credit cards frauds have reached to an alarming level and multinational companies are getting threatening e-mails, a cyber crime expert and Deputy Director FIA NR3C Shahid Hassan said.

“There are different laws promulgated in Pakistan.
These laws not only deal with internet crimes but also with all dimensions relating to computer and networks.

These laws include Electronic Transaction Ordinance (ETO) 2002, Prevention of Electronic Crime Ordinance (PECO) 2007 which lapsed in 2009, Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996 and now Prevention of Electronic Crime Act 2015 (PECA 2015) which has recently been tabled in National Assembly.
But unfortunately, HR activists and members of NGOs are opposing the bill.
When contacted, human rights activist Farhan Husain said, “We are not opposing the bill of PECA but want to make it public-friendly”.

He said that bill was drafted poorly and they wanted to make it a law for the welfare of public.
He believed that instead of making new laws government could improve the existing laws.

The Nation