Rajya Sabha: Govt says steps taken to curb cyber attacks

Minister of State (MoS), Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues alerts and advisories regarding the latest cyber threats and countermeasures. He also said that the government has issued guidelines for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) regarding their key responsibilities.

New Delhi: Over 87,000 cyber security incidents related to government organizations took place in 2020 and till October 2021, Minister of State (MoS), Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Answering questions raised by Loktantrik Janata Dal MP MV Shreyams Kumar, the MoS said that according to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) that a total number of 1158208 and 121374 cyber security incidents took place during in 2020 and up to October 2021 respectively in the country.

"CERT-In has reported that a total number of 1158208 and 1213784 cyber security incidents are observed during the year 2020 and 2021 (up to October) respectively. Out of this, a total number of 54314 and 32736 cyber security incidents were related to Government organizations during the year 2020 and 2021 (upto October) respectively," stated Chandrasekhar in a written reply.

He also said that the Union Government has taken several steps to prevent cyber attacks. The Minister said that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues alerts and advisories regarding the latest cyber threats and countermeasures. He also said that the government has issued guidelines for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) regarding their key responsibilities.

"All the government websites and applications are audited with respect to cyber security prior to their hosting. The auditing of the websites and applications is conducted on a regular basis after hosting," the MoS added.

He also announced several other measures taken by the Union Government to prevent cyber attacks.