A PREVIOUS smartphone giant BlackBerry Ltd has released its mobile malware report that transpired pervasive mobile malware dimension in cross-platform advanced persistent threat espionage campaigns.

The report examines how advanced persistent threat (APT) groups have been leveraging mobile malware in combination with traditional desktop malware in ongoing surveillance and espionage campaigns.

The contents of the report are quite alarming for Pakistan as the espionage campaign is severely targeting our country. It reveals that a newly identified cross-platform espionage campaign dubbed Operation Dualpak by APT group ‘Bitter’ is targeting the Pakistani military leveraging a newly identified mobile malware family dubbed PWNDROID2 that is being distributed via fake applications, SMS, WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

A second newly identified cross-platform espionage campaign leveraging interest in the recent Kashmir crisis, dubbed Operation Dualpak2 and conducted by ‘Confucius’, is targeting the Pakistani government and military utilising a newly identified Windows malware family dubbed PWNWIN2, which was distributed by way of a JavaScript version of a chat application.

It would be in the fitness of things that a cyber security subject is introduced to all educational institutions to educate our next generation of impending perils of cyber security.

It must be noted that the next war will not be fought by armies, weapons or nukes. It will be cyber war aimed at jamming and crippling all electronic systems and internet of rivals.

We must be prepared to learn all technological developments, innovations, inventions and spying tools to counter these malicious malwares. Keeping ourselves and our brave forces abreast of latest knowledge is essential for our survival.

Iftikhar Mirza
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2019