Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in a bid to strengthen cybersecurity in the telecom sector, has launched its National Telecom Security Operations Center (NTSOC) – a centralized platform for managing telecom related cybersecurity incidents.
The NTSOC was established under the Pakistan National Cybersecurity Policy 2021 and Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA 2016) to secure Pakistan’s critical telecom data and infrastructure against cyber-attacks, said a news release issued on Tuesday.
NTSOC: country’s first sectoral security operations center
With the issuance of the Cybersecurity Policy, the NTSOC has become the first sectoral security operations center in the country.
It comprises three critical components, including Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration and Automated Response (SOAR), and threat Intelligence, which have been indigenously customized to improve the cybersecurity ranking of Pakistan.
The NTSOC will integrate with telecom operators’ national Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and SOCs and ensure an effective and rapid incident response. Six telecom operators have collaborated with the NTSOC, with the rest expected to follow gradually.
The project also includes enhancements in available solutions to keep pace with evolving cybersecurity threats.
