Newspapers are full of the news from the developed countries like America, European Union members, and Australia about the security breaches in the information systems and the stealing of millions of credit card numbers or the customer records, or the health data of the patients from the hospitals and the clinics. Millions upon millions of dollars get lost in the information theft in the West each year. Identity theft is also common. The more the world is relying on the information systems and the virtual world and plastic cards and PIN numbers, the more vulnerable we are becoming online. Despite of the awareness, education, and the technical know-how in the West, there is growing number of breaches out there.
In Pakistan where there is no much awareness in the common people about the online systems; things are sketchy and very vulnerable. Online banking, credit cards, and online shopping are making inroads in the common Pakistani lifestyle and middle class is getting drawn to it. But there is no awareness at all about the security of the information in the country. With virtually no laws protecting the citizens and no law enforcement agency well equipped to safeguard against such cyber crimes, things are very alarming. I hope that at least the financial institutions offering such services online would take this upon themselves to educate their customers about cyber safety and information security. We need to be very careful online.