Pakistan is taking major steps to safeguard its digital future with the release of comprehensive 5G security guidelines by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). These rules set high standards for telecom operators, vendors, and service providers ahead of the country’s upcoming 5G rollout.
Prepared by the PTA’s Cyber Security Directorate, the guidelines treat mobile security as a matter of national security, economic stability, and public safety. Unlike previous mobile networks, 5G will support smart cities, connected transport, e-health, industrial automation, and digital governance, which expands the potential cybersecurity risks.
Key measures outlined in the guidelines include:
- IMSI protection: Mandatory SUCI encryption prevents identity tracking and IMSI-catcher attacks.
- Home-network-controlled authentication: Reduces roaming fraud and fake network threats.
- Service-Based Architecture security: All 5G core APIs must use mutual TLS, OAuth 2.0, and strict authorization.
- Roaming protection: Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) shields inter-operator signaling from spoofing and injection attacks.
The PTA has adopted a Zero Trust Security Model covering user devices, RAN, edge computing, core networks, and cloud applications. Telecom operators are required to use AI-driven anomaly detection, enforce network slice isolation, secure edge nodes, and integrate systems with SOC and SIEM platforms for real-time threat monitoring.
IoT devices are identified as a high-risk category. Guidelines mandate secure boot, firmware integrity checks, certificate-based identities, tamper-resistant hardware, and AKMA to reduce password exposure. Critical time-sensitive communications will use redundant encrypted paths to ensure reliability even under attacks.
The PTA also emphasizes physical and insider security, including Tier-3 data centers, biometric access, 24/7 surveillance, strict RBAC, segregation of duties, and regular audits of vendors and cloud platforms.
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Through these measures, Pakistan aims to ensure its 5G rollout is resilient, trusted, and internationally credible. The guidelines are designed to support critical national services while minimizing cyber risks, protecting both the digital infrastructure and the public.
