'No sustainable development without cyber security': DG FIA

• Federal Investigation Agency holds seminar on cybersecurity.
• DG FIA says agency playing a "vital role with meager resources".
• DG FIA emphasises need to secure country’s infrastructure.

Director-General Federal Investigation Agency (DGFIA) Dr Sanaullah Abbasi said Tuesday there could be no sustainable development in the country without cyber security.

Abbasi's comments came during his address to a seminar titled “prevention of cyber-attacks” at the agency's headquarters in Islamabad, where he was the chief guest, according to a statement.

"It is high time to understand the severity/nature of the cyber security and the cyber-attacks," the FIA's director-general said.

Abbasi said, for this reason, there was a need to join efforts at the national as well as international level to prevent such problems from arising in the coming days.

The FIA chief said his agency was playing a "vital role with meagre resources", but he still stressed the need to be prepared for mitigating cyber crimes in the future.

He emphasised the need to work together with all relevant stakeholders in the public and private sector to secure the country’s infrastructure and to adopt best practices in this regard.

Cyber security experts from academia, renowned institutions, and officials of the cybercrime wing were in attendance at the seminar.

In the first session of the seminar, a panel discussion on the prevention of cyberattacks was held, with cyber security experts from academia and officials of the cybercrime wing as panellists.

Subsequent to the expert panel discussion, a conference on “Prevention of cyber-attacks” was also held under the chairmanship of Abbasi.

The cyber experts enlightened the importance of cyber security measures and emphasis to adopt these measures on national, organisational and individual levels to cater to the issue of cyber attacks at large.

"It was highlighted that international standards need to be applied with respect to cyber security policy and management," the statement added.