KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has awarded a Rs100 million contract to Supernet, a subsidary of Telecard for IT and Cyber Security, consisting of supply, installation, maintenance and technical support of Next Generation Intrusion Detection and Protection Systems (IDPS) to secure SBP Infrastructure from Advance Persistent Threats (“APT”).
What is the SBP doing to make its data more secure?
In a notice to the PSX on Wednesday, Telecard, the parent company, wrote, “This IDPS solution will provide SBP with state-of-the-art deduction of vulnerable exploits and unidentified threats originating against any targeted system, applications or hardware.”
“In addition, the IDPS will provide remedial measures, as and when any malicious behavior is detected. This solution will operate by scanning all network traffic on SBP’s gateways, detecting and protecting against threats like DoS, DDoS, Worms and viruses, additionally, creating a 2nd layer of defense to SBP’s security framework,” the notice said.
The IDPS consists of a detection system and prevention system. The detection system is used to analyse and monitor network traffic for signs that indicate attackers are using a known cyberthreat to infiltrate or steal data from your network. IDS systems compare the current network activity to a known threat database to detect several kinds of behaviors like security policy violations, malware, and port scanners.
The prevention system proactively denies network traffic based on a security profile if that packet represents a known security threat. An APT is a broad term used to describe an attack campaign in which an intruder, or team of intruders, establishes an illicit, long-term presence on a network in order to mine highly sensitive data.
Telecard and Supernet
Telecard was launched in the 1990s as a payphone operator. Over the years, as technology has changed, Telecard evolved its product line with subsidiaries like Supernet and Super Secure.
It works with global partners like Genesys to provide services to its customers. The customer portfolio generally consists of corporations and enterprises.
Supernet, its subsidiary that is looking to be listed on the PSX, is currently a public unlisted company that is solely owned by Telecard. Supernet has been up and running for the past 25 years. It is in the business of providing connectivity services and IT and communication solutions to its clients.
