Cyber-attacks expose a state’s vulnerabilities
Cyber-attacks on the government and significant business websites are as much a reality as physical insurgency and terrorist attacks.
As many as 641 Twitter accounts, e-mails, and websites pertaining to the government were hacked during the last five years, the Centre said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
According to Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, they have tracked a total number of 175, 114, 61, 77, 186, and 28 websites, emails, and social media accounts that were hacked during the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 (up to February) respectively.
Responding to a query regarding the measures taken by the government, the minister said that whenever a compromise takes place, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) notifies the affected entities along with remedial actions to be taken.
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“CERT-In coordinates incident response measures with affected entities, service providers, sectoral Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) as well as Law Enforcement Agencies,” the Minister told Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Thakur said the government has taken several measures to enhance the cyber security posture and prevent cyber-attacks.
“CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding the latest cyber threats and countermeasures on a regular basis to ensure safe usage of digital technologies. It has issued 68 advisories for organisations and users for data security and mitigating fraudulent activities,” the Minister informed the House.
He said that all government websites and applications are audited with respect to cyber security prior to their hosting. The auditing is also conducted on a regular basis post-hosting.
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