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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT) has issued an advisory to 39 key ministries and institutions and warned them of a “severe risk” posed by the ongoing ‘Blue Locker’ malware attacks, an NCERT spokesperson said on Sunday, confirming that a few Pakistani organizations had already been affected by the ransomware.

NCERT, which handles cybersecurity threats, alerts and coordination for government ministries and institutions, advisory came after the ransomware targeted some organizations in the South Asian country, according NCERT spokesman Imran Haider.

“Pakistan Petroleum has been impacted severely and some other organizations were also attacked, but our deployed system is detecting and blocking it continuously,” he told Arab News.

Blue Locker ransomware can impact Windows-based desktops, laptops and servers as well as network shares, cloud-synced storage and backup systems accessible during the attack, according to an Aug. 9 NCERT advisory seen by Arab News.

“The Blue Locker ransomware encrypts victim files, appends the .blue (dot blue) extension, and demands ransom in exchange for decryption keys,” it said, adding that the attack may initiate through trojanized downloads, phishing emails, unsafe file-sharing platforms and compromised websites.

“It has the potential for severe data loss, operational disruption, and reputational harm.”

Once executed, the ransomware may disable antivirus software, spread laterally across the network, and exfiltrate sensitive information, according to the advisory.

As a precaution, organizations must keep all systems updated with the latest security patches, apply multi-factor authentication, filter malicious emails or web content, avoid downloading software from untrusted sources, train staff on threat detection, and monitor systems and maintain offline backups of critical data.

“Immediate isolation of any infected system and prompt reporting to the cybersecurity team are essential to prevent further spread,” NCERT said.

Independent cybersecurity experts say Pakistani government bodies lack structures, policies and constant vigilance needed to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

Tariq Malik, a cybersecurity expert and former Chief Technology Officer with Pakistan’s army, said the country’s ministries and government departments were “ill-prepared” to handle such attacks.

“They do not have such structure and clear policies to deal with such sophisticated attacks,” he told Arab News. “Government departments need to start using the technology as a whole not only as personal computers and need proper safety mechanisms and trainings.”

Ammar Jaffery, president of the Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA), said the nature of cybersecurity has changed from reactive to proactive, and organizations now need to continuously train their staff to deal with daily emerging challenges.

“Hackers are always ahead of experts, so it’s not just about capability but about continuous learning, where organizations must recognize that cyber threats are growing daily, weekly and monthly,” he told Arab News.

“Therefore, organizations should regularly check their systems and create ongoing awareness among their technical and general staff.”

Key ministries and departments should have their own cybersecurity teams, according to Jaffery.

“They should train their Security Operations Center (SOC) teams and ensure up-to-date Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, and especially their own CERT which acts like a watchman guarding your home — are always on alert,” he said.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national space agency said on Sunday it has signed a “landmark” memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HBL Microfinance Bank (HBL MfB) to introduce, for the first time, satellite-based agricultural analytics into the country’s lending ecosystem. 

The Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) said the initiative represents a major step forward in applying space technology to support climate-smart agriculture and enhance access to finance for farmers. 

The pilot will involve remote pre-loan assessments using high-resolution satellite imagery, crop health analytics, yield estimation, risk profiling, and a scoring engine to assess farm-level creditworthiness by SUPARCO. A secure API and dashboard interface will enable HBL MfB to integrate this data into its loan decision-making processes, eliminating the need for manual field verification.

“The pilot phase will be implemented in Okara District, Punjab— one of the country’s most important agricultural regions,” the statement said. 

“SUPARCO’s secure API and dashboard interface will integrate directly with HBL MfB’s systems, eliminating the need for manual field verification and enabling remote pre-loan assessments.”

The next phase of the partnership includes post-loan satellite monitoring, enabling the bank to track crop activity and raise early alerts in case of anomalies, the space agency said. 

The development takes place as Pakistan aims to strengthen its space program. China last month launched a Pakistani remote sensing satellite (PRSS-1) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The satellite, being primarily used in the fields of land resource surveys and disaster prevention and mitigation, will help promote the development of Pakistan, Pakistan’s planning minister had said. 

In January, China launched Pakistan’s indigenously developed Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite into space from its Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, aiming to predict natural disasters and monitor resources, Chinese and Pakistani state media reported.

In November 2024, SUPARCO announced its rover will join China’s Chang’E 8 mission to explore the moon’s surface in 2028.

In May 2024, Pakistan launched its first lunar satellite aboard China’s Chang’e-6 probe, which was tasked with landing on the far side of the moon that perpetually faces away from the Earth.