Senate to take up bill on cyber security tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: A bill seeking establishment of a 'National Cyber Security Council (NCSC)’ is on the first day’s agenda of the Senate session beginning on Monday (tomorrow). The NCSC Bill 2014, submitted by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed of PML-Q, suggests formation of a 30-member council to formulate a national cyber security policy and evolve coordination among various government organisations and departments working on the issue. According to the bill, the council will comprise members from public and private sectors and federal secretaries of defence, interior, planning, information technology and communications will be its ex-officio members. Members of the council, to be constituted for two years, will include director general of the Federal Investigation Agency, chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority and representatives of other agencies concerned. The council will recommend measures to counter emerging cyber security threats to the country and facilitate communication between the government and private sectors. Talking to Dawn, Senator Hussain said last year’s disclosures about America’s secret surveillance of electronic communications across the world demanded that Pakistan should take measures to check online spying. Mr Hussain said he had prepared the draft of the private member bill after consultation with stakeholders who believed that the country was facing a “new kind of non-military security threats”.