Dr. Haider Abbas, Director General of Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (National CERT), recently took center stage at the prestigious ENEI’25 Conference, held at the University of Porto (Universidade do Porto) in Portugal. His participation as a keynote speaker marks another milestone for Pakistan’s growing presence in the global cybersecurity landscape, especially as cyber threats continue to evolve rapidly across geopolitical, economic, and technological domains.
The keynote address, titled “Cyberwarfare: Evolving Techniques and Emerging Challenges,” was delivered under the banner of the ACM Distinguished Speaker Program, a high-profile initiative of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), USA—the largest global computing society with nearly 100,000 members spanning more than 170 countries. Dr. Abbas, who has held the honor of being ACM’s first-ever Distinguished Speaker from Pakistan since 2019, was invited to share his expertise on this globally significant platform.
In his keynote, Dr. Abbas addressed the shifting landscape of cyberwarfare, emphasizing the strategic consequences that nations face as digital and physical domains continue to converge. He highlighted the emergence of hybrid threat vectors that fuse traditional warfare techniques with advanced cyber capabilities. These include disinformation campaigns, critical infrastructure sabotage, and AI-powered cyberattacks, all of which demand a new era of defense mechanisms.
He further discussed the role of cyber diplomacy in building international resilience. Dr. Abbas stressed the need for collaborative global frameworks, not just between governments, but also involving private sector leaders, academia, and civil society stakeholders. According to him, these partnerships are vital in addressing the increasing complexity of digital threats and developing a unified front against state and non-state actors in cyberspace.
The keynote also explored the resilience strategies that nations must adopt to prepare for and recover from cyber conflicts. Dr. Abbas underscored the importance of proactive measures, including threat intelligence sharing, capacity building, policy standardization, and the promotion of cybersecurity education at all levels of society.
His participation in ENEI’25 not only signifies Pakistan’s commitment to international dialogue on cybersecurity, but also underlines the proactive role that National CERT Pakistan is playing in shaping digital resilience on a global scale. The team’s increasing involvement in international conferences and forums reflects a broader national strategy under the Digital Pakistan vision, which places cybersecurity at the heart of sustainable digital transformation.
Dr. Abbas’s engagement at ENEI’25 was met with widespread appreciation, both from the conference attendees and the organizing bodies. National CERT extended its heartfelt thanks to the University of Porto and ACM for their invitation and warm hospitality, affirming its commitment to future collaborations aimed at enhancing collective cybersecurity preparedness.
With geopolitical tensions rising and cyber incidents growing in frequency and sophistication, the insights shared by Dr. Abbas at ENEI’25 are timely reminders of the pressing need to rethink traditional approaches to national security in a digitized world.
