ISLAMABAD: A project for establishing the first National Centre for Cyber Security was inaugurated on Monday by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

The centre is being set up at the Air University and will consist of affiliated laboratories in 10 various universities in the country. According to documents for the project, cyberspace, a fifth domain for warfare, has recently attracted the attention of many developed and developing countries.

“Reports of government websites being hacked and sensitive data being stolen by foreign groups is not new anymore,” the document says, adding that affective cyber attacks can cripple an entire nation’s infrastructure and can damage the economy.

The inauguration of the project was held at the Air University and was attended by a large number of experts, teachers and students.

Cyber security is a recognised global problem, costs the world economy $400bn annually, project documents say

Speaking on the occasion, the interior minister said the country’s security situation has improved significantly during the last five years. He said terrorism has been curtailed and that the war against terrorism is ongoing.

He said the establishment of the centre was a dream of his and that cyber security issues are a new phenomena.

“We earlier inaugurated the Centre of Mathematical Sciences at PIAS while a centre of excellence for artificial intelligence, cyber security and robotics is also being established in the country,” he said.

Cyber security has been recognised as a global problem, transcending national boundaries. It is estimated, according to a working paper of this project, that cybercrime costs the global economy $400 billion annually.

“Cyber security is a rapidly growing challenge with new sophisticated zero-day attacks costing economies billions per year. The scale of the problem, rapid technology advancement, and technical nature of cyber-attacks widens the cyber security skills gap. Hence, there is a need for new initiatives that cannot only produce skilful people in this area but make Pakistan self-sustainable in the area of cyber security,” the paper reads.

According to the document, this project is mainly focused on research and development and human resource development in the specialised field of cyber security and its practical applications, which are important components of Vision 2025. It says the role of cyber security is growing in many business applications and is becoming vital for economic growth and national competitiveness.

Worth Rs1.23 billion, the project will focus on building national capacity for carrying out research and development in the emerging field of cyber security by solving at least a small number of hard cyber security problems identified and mutually agreed by a scientific committee comprising of local and international experts. It will also offer solutions to the market though technology commercialisation and licensing.

The centre is designed for also developing a vibrant cyber security ecosystem and with a highly skilled workforce in cyber security and IT and an advanced infrastructure. Pakistan can build a cyber security ecosystem to become a leading nation in this field in Asia and the Middle East.

The headquarters of the centre will be in Air University while some universities are going to be partners such as Bahria University Islamabad, UET Taxila, Lums Lahore, Arfa Software Technology Park, Nust, University of Peshawar, University of Technology Nowshera and the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore.

Higher Education Commission Executive Director Dr Arshad Ali said the project is being funded by the HEC.

“The future of any country is nowadays dependent on cyber security as even the best missile systems can also be breached,” he said. He said work on the establishment of the centre has already been started and that it will be completed in three years.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2018