MeitY launches first NIC-CERT to prevent, predict cyberattacks on government utilities

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched first NIC-CERT, a setup of National Informatics Centre (NIC) to prevent and predict cyber-attacks on government utilities.
It was launched by Union Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi as part of Digital India Initiative.

NIC-CERT

The NIC-CERT will monitor and help in early detection and mitigation of cyberattacks on government networks. It has been setup with objective of creating comprehensive framework that integrates world class security components and inbuilt threat intelligence for detection, prevention and incident response.
It will operate in close co-ordination and collaboration with other sectoral CERTs and more so with CERT-In. Using advance tools, NIC-CERT team will correlate events that would help in generating canvas of attack surface and identify vulnerabilities and possible exploits. The PAN-India connectivity of NIC coupled with its enhanced ability to detect and prevent attacks will collectively upscale NIC-CERT capability to protect government’s data.

Background

Government has introduced a lot of its services online as part of its Digital India initiatives which has made the services easily accessible to citizens. But at the same time it also has exposed them to threats and vulnerabilities that are an inherent part of cyberspace. In recent past there has been an exponential growth in cyberattacks leading to concerns of data theft. The government had already announced setting up of sectoral CERTs (computer emergency response teams) for sectors such as finance and power.

National Informatics Centre (NIC)

The NIC (Rashtriya Suchna Vigyan Kendra) is premier science & technology organisation of Government in informatics services and information and communication technology (ICT) applications. It is a part of MeitY’s Department of Electronics & Information Technology. It was established in 1976.
It plays a pivotal role in steering e-governance applications in governmental departments at national, state and district levels, thus enabling improvement and wider transparency in government services. Almost all Indian-government websites are developed and managed by NIC.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2017