The National Computer Emergency Response Team of Pakistan (PKCERT), Government of Pakistan, and global cybersecurity company Kaspersky have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement marks a major step toward enhancing Pakistan’s national cybersecurity posture through collaboration in threat detection, mitigation, and prevention.
The partnership between PKCERT and Kaspersky focuses on strengthening the country’s cyber resilience through a series of coordinated efforts. These include extensive training and awareness programs designed to enhance operational readiness across all levels of government, industry, academia, and civil society. The collaboration also focuses on capacity development to cultivate a skilled cybersecurity workforce aligned with both national and international standards. Additionally, the two organizations will ensure the timely dissemination of actionable cyber threat intelligence to relevant stakeholders across Pakistan.
Under the MoU, PKCERT and Kaspersky will cooperate across a wide range of cybersecurity areas, including legislative and regulatory issues, incident detection and response, prevention and mitigation strategies, cybersecurity education, research and development, and professional exchanges. The two organizations will exchange relevant technical information, threat intelligence, and data feeds related to cyberthreats and cyberattacks affecting citizens, businesses, and government institutions in Pakistan.
The MoU was signed by Dr. Haider Abbas, TI, Director General, National CERT, Government of Pakistan, and Rashed Al Momani, General Manager for the Middle East and Pakistan at Kaspersky, in the presence of Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky, and Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Federal IT Minister, Government of Pakistan.
“Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play a vital role in socio-economic development of a country; however, they have also introduced new challenges such as cyber espionage, hacktivism, ransomware, data breaches, identity theft, attacks on critical infrastructure, financial and supply chain disruptions, and disinformation campaigns. Our collaboration with Kaspersky, a global leader with expertise in these domains, represents another important step toward strengthening national cybersecurity,” said Dr. Haider Abbas, TI, Director General, National CERT, Government of Pakistan.
“Safeguarding digital development requires robust cybersecurity, founded on deep and continuous partnerships between public authorities and private companies. Kaspersky has a long and fruitful history of working with global and regional organizations such as INTERPOL and AFRIPOL, as well as local computer emergency response teams around the world. We highly value this cooperation with PKCERT as an important step in consolidating Pakistan’s secure digital transformation for the entire nation,” commented Rashed Al Momani, General Manager for the Middle East and Pakistan at Kaspersky.
About PKCERT
The National Cyber Emergency Response Team of Pakistan or PKCERT is a national government entity responsible for protecting digital assets, sensitive information, and critical infrastructure of Pakistan from ever-increasing cyber-attacks, cyber terrorism, and cyber espionage. It is continuously ramping up its capacity to provide excellent services to the nation and all its stakeholders. For more details go to www.pkcert.gov.pk
