IT&E dept looks to bolster security of govt websites against cyber attacks
Kolkata: In a significant stride to make the websites of different state government departments secure from
cyber attacks to the maximum extent, the state Information Technology & Electronics (IT&E) department has decided to conduct self audit of the websites.
"We have enlisted some certified auditing firms for carrying out this exercise. They will educate the developers of these websites on the preventive measures that should be taken to make the websites safer and secure from cyber attack," said Additional Chief Secretary, IT&E, Debashis Sen at a symposium of cyber security organised by Infosec Foundation, a non-profit platform dedicated to cyber security.
It has been learnt that the state IT&E department has already issued an advisory to all the government departments to switch over to Internet Protocol Versions (IPV) 6 from IPV 4. The department feels that using IPV 6 version will contribute to enhancing data security and at the same time, will make it easier for the police to detect fraudsters.
The department has already started imparting training regarding cyber safety and security to all police officers below the rank of inspectors and also to a section of government officials.
The training is presently being imparted at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) in Salt Lake and the department has plans to organise similar programmes at all the IT parks in the state.
"We have already started training government officials from Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling at the Siliguri IT park on cyber security," a senior official of the IT&E department said.
The training has become imperative as the state government is gradually implementing e-office platform at the district level.
Rajan S Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators of India (COAI) said that the Centre is coming up with Data Protection Act in the next Parliament session, which is expected to clearly define which critical information can be used for what purpose.
Infosec Foundation also signed an MoU with Praxis Business School, Kolkata, to set up a Centre of Excellence in cyber security with support from Carleton University, Canada.
