Unauthorized Access / Hacking
PECA section 3 criminalizes dishonest unauthorized access to an information system or data. Section 4 covers unauthorized copying or transmission of data; section 5 covers interference with systems or data. “Hacking” is a colloquial umbrella — use the statutory headings when reading the law.
Evidence and urgency
Section 31 addresses expedited preservation and acquisition of data by authorized officers. Victims should still preserve their own logs, but should not attempt unlawful counter-hacking.
Applicable PECA provisions
Links open LawHub’s National corpus text for PECA 2016. Read the full section before relying on a short label.
Evidence checklist
- Login alerts, new-device notifications, and access logs
- Changed passwords/emails without your action
- Ransom notes or leaked-data samples (handle carefully)
Practical next steps
- Isolate compromised devices and rotate credentials from a clean device.
- Preserve logs for investigators.
- File through official channels; do not pay ransoms on LawHub’s advice — seek counsel.
Related cybercrime topics
Find a cyber crime lawyer
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Sources & provenance
- The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Pakistan Code consolidation) — Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Code). National corpus consolidation_date 2025-02-07; source_id pakistancode-peca-2016.
- Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act No. II of 2025) — Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) / Senate Secretariat gazette publication. Presidential assent and Gazette Extra. publication 29 January 2025; [94(2025)/Ex. Gaz.].
- NCCIA online complaint portal — National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (complaint.nccia.gov.pk). Host complaint.nccia.gov.pk resolves on the public DNS (Cloudflare). Bot fetches may receive HTTP 403; users should open the official domain in a browser and follow current on-site instructions.