Pakistan has introduced new cybersecurity restrictions for government employees and public-sector officials.
The rules prohibit employees from accessing e-Office and other classified government portals through personal devices.
They also ban the use of private email services, including Gmail and Yahoo, for official correspondence.
The restrictions form part of the National Cybersecurity Handbook 2026–27. Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (PKCERT) issued the handbook.
Government Work Must Use Official Accounts
According to the handbook, employees must conduct official correspondence through government-provided email accounts.
They must not forward official emails to personal inboxes. Employees are also barred from registering government email addresses on shopping, gaming or social-media platforms.
The rules aim to protect sensitive government information from potential cyber threats.
Moreover, officials must use authorised devices for government work. These include government-approved computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
Personal Devices Require Prior Approval
The guidelines also address situations where government equipment is unavailable.
In such cases, employees must obtain permission from their department before using a personal device. The device must also meet the required security standards.
However, employees cannot use personal devices freely for official tasks without approval.
PKCERT warned that unauthorised devices and personal accounts can create several security risks.
They could expose sensitive information or allow malware to enter government systems. Such practices could also affect audit trails during cyber incident investigations.
USB Drives and External Devices Restricted
The handbook also places restrictions on external storage devices.
Employees have been instructed not to connect personal USB drives to official computers. The same restriction applies to external hard disks and personal mobile phones.
These measures are intended to reduce the risk of malware infections and unauthorised data transfers.
Overall, the new guidelines seek to strengthen cybersecurity across government departments. They also establish clearer rules for handling official information and using digital government systems.
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