IT ministry opts for 'intranet' at cabinet meetings to foil cyberattacks 

In view of attacks on official websites, the Ministry of Information and Technology from now has decided to use intranet and cable instead of internet in the federal cabinet meetings, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Additional secretary IT told the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology on Thursday that attempts were made to choke the internet traffic on official websites day before yesterday (Tuesday, May 10, 2022) through fake IPs.  

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haque said that his ministry had decided to make the National Information Technology Board (NITB) an autonomous body. “And the National Assembly had even passed a bill for the purpose,” he said, and added, “However, the Senate is yet to pass the bill. Now as per law, the bill will now be tabled at the joint session of the parliament.”  

The additional secretary told the Senate body that the National Technology Council (NTC) successfully foiled the hacking attempts. “Now the NTC has sent a report to the Cabinet Division in which steps have been suggested to successfully foil such attacks in future,” he informed. 

The IT minister told the committee that the government took some steps immediately after the attacks. “We constituted a committee, headed by the ministry’s additional secretary, to find out as to how the hackers were able to access the official websites; to ascertain as to whose negligence had caused all this or to identify the guilty persons so that they could be brought to justice. 

Reporter: Saba Bajair