Centre will trace hackers’ country
Caught in the middle of major cyber-espionage strikes emanating both from China and the US, the government has decided to put in place a new system where it is not only possible to block hacking and data stealing attempts, but also ensure that the hackers are traced to their country of origin so that the Indian government can take up the issue directly with those governments.
According to the National Security Council Secretariat reports in 2012, various super sensitive government departments and ministries faced at least 1,000 serious hacking and data stealing attempts.
Despite instructions to the National Information Centre to strengthen its counter-hacking capabilities, the hackers have been successfully targeting sensitive information, a top government official said.
What is also becoming a matter of fresh worry for the government, is that sensitive private sector companies are also increasingly becoming targets of cyber-attacks.
Taking serious note of cyber attacks originating from foreign countries, Union home secretary R.K. Singh has recently issued orders to constitute a special high-level committee to chalk out a comprehensive response to all the cyber-espionage attempts on the government data and cyber-infrastructure.
The committee, sources said, will not only work out an all encompassing response from the government on the attempts but will also work in close tandem with other government agencies involved in the anti-cyber threat capacity building and ensure that hackers are traced to their country of origin.
The committee will also draw up a plan to enhance the cyber-security capabilities of the key government agencies.
“The idea is to trace the hackers and identify them. That will play a major role in strengthening our response system,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the home ministry has also mooted setting up of Cyber Crime Police Stations (CCPS) in each state and UTs to spearhead specialised investigations on cyber-crimes at the ground level which will be linked to Cyber Crime Investigations and Forensic Training Facilities (CCIFTF) in each state to act as training hubs for police personnel and public prosecutors. It will also provide technical assistance to investigators locally to trace the offenders.
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