back to article Pakistan politicians label government cybersecurity team 'incompetent'

A Pakistani parliamentary committee has labelled its own cybersecurity agency "incompetent". That damning assessment was offered by the nation's Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication at a Monday meeting convened to brief committee members on the workings of Pakistan's Ministry of Information …

  1. Old Used Programmer

    Ummm...

    I think you mean "damning assessment" as there is no apparent intention to block the flow of water.

    1. Valeyard

      Re: Ummm...

      in pakistan i think there's every intention to block the flow of water...

    2. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Ummm...

      Yeah yeah, typos happen. It's fixed. Drop corrections@theregister.com an email if you spot anything wrong - things get fixed faster that way.

      C.

  2. MJB7

    Yet another American English / British English difference

    And this one actually matters.

    I think this was written by an American (or at least the headline was). No Brit would refer to a Parliamentary Committee as "part of the government". The problem is that British English "government" is American English "executive". American English "government" is British English "state" or (more loosely) "establishment".

    Given that El Reg used to be British, and still has a substantial number of British readers, it would be good if the authors could be aware of this sort of confusion and try to avoid it. Check/cheque is a minor irritant, and truck/lorry really doesn't matter at all, but this does.

    1. BrownishMonstr

      Re: Yet another American English / British English difference

      > Given that El Reg used to be British

      Is that why I have started to find El Reg to be more boring than a few years ago?

    2. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Yet another American English / British English difference

      The headline and story were written by an Australian in Australia who's been with us for the best part of decade.

      I take your point, and fixed the headline. The story's fine.

      C.

      1. MJB7

        Re: Yet another American English / British English difference

        Thanks. Much better!

        Maybe we are all feeling a bit too sensitive.

        I have no idea what "government" means in Australian English.

  3. Mike 137 Silver badge

    "the performance of the Cyber Security Cell"

    While I can't legitimately comment on any specifics in this case, as described it illustrates a very important universal point. If you rely for security on a "Cyber Security Cell" you're bound to fail regardless of their expertise. The big (and excessively common) error is to view cybersecurity as a technical domain. In reality it's a governance/management domain with technical facets (albeit numerous ones). If we review almost any major cyber breach incident we find that defective process management is a root cause, as it prevents the technical echelon operating effectively. Relegating 'cybersecurity' to a 'cell' is an extreme implementation of such defective management, as it builds a communication barrier between the business and those trying to protect it from harm. Effective cybersecurity is a joint effort to which both must contribute.

  4. Tech Cadet

    >Additionally the Committee expressed its displeasure with efforts to restore telecommunications infrastructure after the recent extreme floods that impacted around a third of Pakistan.

    So is there some kind of political infighting going on between the Committee and Pakistan's Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications?

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