Global Trends

Japan's National Cybersecurity Office has confirmed multiple breaches at companies handling large volumes of personal data, driven by web vulnerabilities, supply-chain compromise and weak data management. Its 9 October 2026 advisory urges firms to patch fast, enforce MFA, audit contractors, minimise and encrypt data, and treat cybersecurity as a board-level issue as AI-driven attacks grow more sophisticated.

Pakistan's NCCIA Islamabad has arrested four men, Asad Ullah, Sibtain Ali, Noman Niaz and Sami Ullah, accused of harassing and blackmailing a woman by sharing objectionable images and videos of her with her family and in WhatsApp groups. Four phones were recovered. The swift action under PECA 2016 sends a clear message that image-based abuse of women will be pursued and punished.

Pakistan's NCCIA Multan has arrested two men, Mamoon Rauf and Muhammad Mubashir Murtaza, accused of using a fake steel sale-and-purchase ad on TikTok to trick a buyer into transferring money into their bank accounts. Two mobile phones were recovered, and a case has been registered under PECA 2016 (amended 2025) and the Pakistan Penal Code. The case shows how TikTok ads are becoming a storefront for fake trade deals.

The Indian state of Karnataka has signed a memorandum of understanding with voice AI company ElevenLabs. The two will explore uses of voice AI in governance, AI safety and voice restoration, with safeguards against deepfakes, unauthorised voice cloning, fraud and impersonation. Under a voice restoration initiative, eligible people who have lost their voice will get free lifetime licences to speak again in a synthetic version of their own voice, including in Kannada.

Pakistan's NCCIA has arrested 37 suspects at an alleged illegal call centre in Lahore's Johar Town that targeted US citizens. Operators allegedly posed as US mobile carriers selling phones to harvest card details, then used them for unauthorised transactions. The raid comes days after earlier busts in the same neighbourhood, raising hard questions about why Lahore's scam-centre industry keeps rebuilding faster than it is dismantled.

Liberian police and joint security forces have arrested more than 67 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese citizens, in raids on three suspected cyber-fraud sites in Paynesville. Officers seized over $1.3 million in counterfeit US dollars, more than 100 phones carrying up to 20 WhatsApp accounts each, and over 50 computers. Liberia has asked the FBI for forensic help. On 8 October, a court issued a writ of habeas corpus for several of the detainees.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a global framework to tackle deepfakes and cross-border cyber fraud. He urged the GSMA and telecom operators worldwide to build a joint mechanism that stops fraud before it reaches users. Speaking at the 10th India Mobile Congress in New Delhi on 8 October 2026, the Prime Minister said governments, tech firms, operators and banks must act together.

Pakistan’s NCCIA has raided yet another illegal call centre in Lahore, this one allegedly posing as telecom providers to defraud victims in the United Kingdom. Nine people were held and laptops and phones loaded with VoIP calling software were seized. It is the latest in a run of near-weekly raids that raises a hard question: why do these operations keep reappearing?

India’s Ministry of Communications has rejected Elon Musk’s claim that unnamed “oligarchs” are blocking Starlink, calling any suggestion of an unfair or discriminatory framework “baseless and misconceived.” The ministry says three satellite licensees, Starlink among them, are all in the same mandatory security assessment. No evidence was ever offered for Musk’s charge.

India’s Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached about ₹2.12 crore ($250,000) across 43 bank accounts in a digital-arrest scam that targeted a Guwahati senior citizen. Fraudsters posed as TRAI, Mumbai Crime Branch and CBI officers on WhatsApp, coerced 19 transfers totaling about ₹2.13 crore, then layered the money through mule accounts nationwide.

Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency has raided the Abbasi Call Center in Rawalpindi, alleging an international cyber-fraud ring used fake Telegram profiles to build emotional relationships with foreign nationals, mainly Australians, then steered them into fake YouTube tasks and USDT crypto investments. Computers, servers and phones were seized. A case has been registered under PECA and the Pakistan Penal Code.

Timor-Leste investigators raided a building in Dili used to run telecom scams and detained 16 people, including seven Japanese and six Chinese nationals. A fake Japanese police uniform, a staged police backdrop and a Japanese-language fraud manual were found. The group allegedly posed as Japanese police to target people in Japan.