DND Report

Have you already been a victim of data theft from your cell phone? Have you already lost your hard-earned money from your bank account because someone accessed your bank data and then accessed your bank account? Have you encountered a threatening situation in which someone accessed your social media accounts and then posted dangerous comments against the state institutions, or social or religious norms?

If you have faced any such situation in the past, check whether you are using an unsecured, free-to-use Virtual Private Network (VPN) or not.  Yes, the level of harm is less when you are using bonafide, secured, registered VPN services but remember ‘there is no free lunch’ available in the cyber world and free-to-use VPN software is malware and they can steal your vital information such as passwords, bank data, and bank access points. Online bank fraud essentially happens when a cybercriminal can steal an individual’s digital details and gain access to the associated bank accounts or credit cards. They then use this to their advantage, either siphoning money out of the victim’s account directly or otherwise perpetrating other types of financial fraud. Despite banks taking more and more steps to secure their digital services and protect their client’s accounts, the increasing sophistication of these attacks makes it exceedingly tricky to identify when these frauds are being carried out through VPN and difficult to find their DNS servers.

According to US-based cybersecurity experts such as Ryan Toohil and Jory MacKay, some premium VPN providers offer legitimate protection; but free, misleading, and fraudulent VPNs are putting millions of cyber users at risk. According to their research, nearly 50% of US citizens use free VPN services, and two-thirds of those users encounter security problems such as social media accounts, data theft, and bank fraud. In 2022, the FBI issued a warning about a ransomware group specifically targeting users of VPNs with weak security.

European universities have already banned connecting any device with university servers that have VPN software because European IT experts believe that some VPN providers collect the data of users and then sell them to third-party and freeware kind of VPN apps not only stealing data but rather infecting devices (cell phones/computers etc) and even servers they are connected with..

A cybersecurity report titled ‘What Are the Risks of Using a VPN?‘ claims:

• Here are some major risks of downloading and using a scam VPN.

• Hackers could infect your device with malware. Scammers use fake VPNs to trick you into downloading malware that bombards you with ads or directs you to malicious websites.
• Scammers could spy on you to steal your passwords and personal data. Some scam VPNs come with spyware — malicious programs that can leak your private information and online activity.
• Fraudsters could take over your online and financial accounts. Some scam VPNs target your passwords and login information, giving hackers control of your online, social media, and financial accounts.

In simple words, VPNs instead of protecting your privacy actually put you in danger of compromised security. Therefore, you must avoid using VPN services and if you really want to use them then you must use only paid services of VPN because free VPN providers make their money by tracking and selling your browsing history and personal data.

There are about 138 million internet users in Pakistan, of which about 41 million people use unregistered and registered VPNs to hide their identity. There is no doubt that Pakistan tops the list of immoral and pornography-watching countries in the world. By using VPNs, these people hide their identities and connect to foreign servers to access Pakistani cyberspace. Unverified VPNs are being used frequently in Pakistan, which pose severe threats to their privacy, cyber security, and the country’s cyber laws while using registered VPNs is also not without risks because this allows foreign companies to bypass the laws of the land of Pakistan.

Banning unregistered VPNs in Pakistan is an important step that will help ensure the security and safety of users and this ban will help prevent the use of illegal and insecure VPN services, which can often lead to financial scams, terrorism, and other criminal activities.

According to cybersecurity experts, this ban will improve cyber security in Pakistan, as individuals or groups using unregistered VPNs conduct various illegal activities on the Internet to evade the country’s laws and put themselves in vulnerable situations that even they cannot imagine.

About Pakistan’s political polarization, banning unverified VPNs will also prevent false propaganda and chaos on social media and other online platforms in the country, which pose a major threat to public peace and tranquility. Through this ban, the government will be able to improve Pakistan’s Internet environment while remaining safe and law-abiding.

It may be mentioned that there is an alarming increase in the rate of watching illegal content by using VPN services in Pakistan. This practice is one of the factors in the rise of sexual crimes against children, causing lifetime effects on them. Despite the freedom of the Internet, more steps are needed at the government level to limit access to this type of content in Pakistan.

In addition, the implementation of technological solutions and social responsibility is also necessary for internet security and the prevention of unwanted content in Pakistan. Pakistan has made significant progress in the field of cyber security and recent years has increased its capabilities to counter cyber-attacks worldwide. The government has enacted strict laws against cybercrimes and provided advanced training to various agencies to deal with cyber-attacks. Along with this, Pakistan has introduced advanced technologies to strengthen its IT infrastructure, which has resulted in significant improvements in the cyber security sector. Through the creation of the National Cyber Security Task Force, the government has put in place a robust system to deal with cyber threats, which is helping to improve Pakistan’s cyber security ranking globally. The biggest example of progress in the field of cyber security is that Pakistan has been included in Tier 1 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the Global Cyber Security Index Report 2024. Tier 1, is the highest of the five tiers. Today, In the last report of the Global Cyber Security Index, Pakistan was ranked 79^th globally which is higher than any other country in South Asia.