State Bank of Pakistan has announced the launch of Cyber Shield, its Cyber Resilience Strategy for Regulated Entities covering the period 2025 to 2030, as part of Vision 2028. The initiative sets out a comprehensive framework aimed at strengthening the safety and robustness of Pakistan’s banking and financial system amid increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. With rapid digital adoption reshaping financial services, SBP said the strategy is designed to ensure that banks and financial institutions can better protect their systems from attacks, maintain continuity of critical services, and resume operations swiftly following a successful cyber incident. The regulator emphasized that safeguarding customers and preserving trust in digital financial services remains central to maintaining financial stability.
Cyber Shield outlines a holistic and integrated approach to cybersecurity, guided by a clear vision and mission. The vision seeks to ensure safe, reliable, and resilient financial services by strengthening the cyber resilience of regulated entities against evolving threats. Its mission focuses on enhancing safety, efficiency, and stability through strong cybersecurity capabilities, shared knowledge, and comprehensive supervision. The strategy is anchored in four core principles. Unified Defense recognizes that threat actors collaborate and therefore calls for greater coordination among financial institutions to build a collective response. A Holistic approach promotes layered defenses where people, processes, and technology work together to reduce vulnerabilities and protect data integrity. Agile and Adaptive underscores the need for continuous evolution of controls in response to dynamic cyber risks. People Centric highlights the importance of awareness, accountability, and culture, acknowledging that human error often remains a key entry point for cyber incidents.
The framework is structured around five strategic priorities. The first priority, Strengthen, aims to raise readiness levels through the development of a cyber testing framework that simulates attacks, updates tiered cybersecurity regulations aligned with risk exposure, and introduces a roadmap for Zero Trust Architecture. It also addresses resilience of Financial Market Infrastructures and systemically important payment systems. Mature focuses on improving cyber governance, including strengthening the role of the Chief Information Security Officer and enhancing the cyber risk oversight capacity of boards of directors and senior management. Enhance seeks to improve sector wide situational awareness by developing a threat intelligence and information sharing platform, including the establishment of FinCERT to coordinate response efforts. Develop addresses the shortage of skilled professionals by identifying the cyber skills gap and introducing a competency roadmap and structured training programs. Evolve ensures that the strategy remains responsive to emerging risks, including threats linked to third party vendors, through regular reviews and annual threat landscape assessments.
SBP noted that digital transformation driven by technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain has expanded opportunities while also amplifying systemic risks. Rapid digitalization has, in some cases, outpaced the maturity of internal controls, leading to uneven cybersecurity postures across institutions. Limited collaboration and reliance on foreign expertise and third party service providers were also identified as challenges. Through Cyber Shield, SBP said it will closely monitor global and domestic cyber developments and refine the framework as necessary to address new risks. By reinforcing resilience across regulated entities, the central bank aims to protect customers, enable secure digital innovation, and support the continued stability of Pakistan’s financial ecosystem.
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