NIBAF, Risk Associates join forces to bolster cybersecurity in Pakistan

June 22, 2025 (MLN): National Institute of Banking and Finance-Pakistan (NIBAF Pakistan) and Risk Associates have formalized a landmark partnership through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity and compliance readiness of the financial sector in Pakistan.

According to the press release issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) yesterday, the signing ceremony was held at the Risk Associates regional office in Karachi.

The agreement was signed by Ms. Lubna Farooq Malik, Co-CEO of NIBAF-Pakistan and Dr. Aftab Rizvi, CEO of Risk Associates, in the presence of senior leadership from both organizations.

The MoU establishes a strategic framework through which both institutions will collaborate to develop and deliver advanced training programs, advisory services, and capacity-building initiatives focused on cyber risk, governance, digital forensics, and compliance with international standards including PCI DSS and ISO/IEC 27001.

Ms. Lubna Malik while emphasizing the critical significance of cyber risk for the financial industry observed that the financial industry stands at the forefront of profound digital transformation and, consequently, must also be at the very forefront of protecting itself.

In this context, she highlighted that the collaboration between NIBAF and Risk Associates would benefit industry professionals, especially in the banking sector, by enhancing their cybersecurity skills and knowledge through capacity building.

Dr. Aftab Rizvi, CEO of Risk Associates, remarked that static defenses are no longer enough in today’s regulatory climate.

Through this partnership, both NIBAF Pakistan and Risk Associates aim to embed technically rigorous frameworks, such as PCI DSS and ISO/IEC 27001, alongside emerging domains like AI-driven threat modelling, automated GRC, and machine learning-based risk detection.

“Together with NIBAF-Pakistan, we are delivering forward-looking training that empowers banking professionals to anticipate, adapt, and respond to dynamic threats with operational precision and confidence,” he noted.

The collaboration will focus on high-impact learning modules tailored to the needs of banking professionals, covering topics such as information security governance, cyber threat intelligence, PCI compliance, incident response, and digital transformation in financial institutions.

This strategic alliance marks a critical step towards bolstering cybersecurity maturity in Pakistan's financial services sector and advancing the professional excellence of its human capital. 

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