Over 15.5 lakh cyber security incidents in 2019, 2020: Govt

New Delhi: In a startling revelation, it has come to the notice over 15.5 lakh cyber security incidents have been reported in the last two years and 11.58 lakh of them were recorded in 2020 alone.

In reply to a question asked by the ruling party MP Pratima Bhoumik, who represents Tripura West parliamentary seat, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy informed Lok Sabha that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is serving as the national agency for responding to cyber security incidents in accordance with the provisions of Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

As per the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In, 3,94,499 and 11,58,208 cyber security incidents were observed during 2019 and 2020, respectively, he said in a written reply to a question in the lower house.

Reddy further informed the House that the CERT-In receives inputs from its situational awareness systems and threat intelligence sources about malware infections in networks of entities across sectors. Whenever any incident comes to the notice of CERT-In, it issues alerts and advisories to the entities concerned and sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) for remedial measures, he said.

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