National CERT warns of AI-driven cyber threats to banks, key infrastructure

Pakistan's National Cyber Emergency Response Team (National CERT) has issued a security advisory warning of escalating cyber threats driven by artificial intelligence. The advisory says financial institutions and critical national infrastructure are being targeted, as reported by Daily Times.

According to the advisory, malicious actors are increasingly using AI tools, automated bots, botnets and agentic systems to make attacks faster and more sophisticated. It says core banking networks, digital payment platforms and customer mobile applications face a higher risk of serious disruption.

Technical experts warned that unauthorised manipulation of displayed account balances could cause public anxiety and financial instability. National regulatory authorities are instructing all financial organisations to put immediate security countermeasures in place.

The advisory names oil and gas installations, water management utilities, power generation plants and electrical distribution networks as primary high-value targets. It also says major industrial manufacturing hubs and national transportation management systems are vulnerable to intrusion attempts.

Infrastructure operators are required to audit network access protocols and isolate mission-critical management systems. National CERT recommended strict monitoring of all corporate network interfaces and customer-facing APIs, including automated login attempts, repeated authentication failures, credential stuffing campaigns and abnormal API requests.

IT administrators are advised to set up real-time alerts for unauthorised changes to application configurations and unusual transaction patterns. Financial institutions must run continuous integrity checks on customer data records and backend databases, and use independent transaction verification to detect altered banking requests or unauthorised transfers.

The advisory cited recent cyber incidents in Europe that compromised refrigeration and cooling systems at several major supermarket chains, causing commercial damage and physical inventory loss. Formal investigations have not confirmed AI involvement in those incidents. Pakistani authorities urged local operators to prepare for the physical consequences of digital breaches.

National CERT urged all public and private entities to carry out immediate readiness assessments against bot-driven AI attacks. Technical teams are setting up redundant data backups and upgrading encryption standards on core communication channels, while national planners update baseline defence guidelines.