The government has declared Wi-Fi devices insecure, prompting the National Information Technology Board (NITB) to issue a security advisory for all organizations, Express News reported. The advisory draws attention to cyber security risks associated with the use of wireless networks and advises measures to increase security. The government pointed out that because of the default security configuration and lack of user awareness, attackers can gain unauthorized access to networks and systems, potentially installing malware and stealing sensitive information. To mitigate these risks, the advisory recommends several actions: changing the default credentials, using strong and unique passwords to access the router, ensuring password complexity, and implementing secure encryption protocols such as WPA3. The advisory also recommends regularly updating the SSID (Wi-Fi name), hiding the SSID to prevent public broadcasts, and securing Wi-Fi with proper encryption. The aim of these measures is to reduce vulnerability and protect networks from cyber threats. On the other hand, a report by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) highlights that the increase in the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) during internet outages is the main cause of slow internet speeds in Pakistan. VPNs bypass local content delivery networks (CDNs), which account for 70% of internet delivery, leading to inefficiencies and increased reliance on international servers. This increase has also caused economic losses, with each megabyte of data over a VPN costing around $1. VPN bandwidth usage peaked at 634 Gbps in August and remained high in the following months before settling to 437 Gbps in December. The PTA calls for a strategy to manage VPN use and improve local internet infrastructure to minimize these impacts. In addition, problems with Pakistan’s internet infrastructure have been associated with slow speeds, problems with media downloads and interruptions, due in part to government tests on a “firewall” to monitor and block specific content. Internet performance in Pakistan is weak globally, with slow speeds affecting business, education, health and governance. Last year, Pakistan faced a huge financial loss of $1.62 billion due to internet outages and social media shutdowns.
