Kanyashree portal ‘potential security breach’ flagged: NIC recommends several ‘security measures’

Kolkata: Amid concerns over tab money fraud, the Kanyashree portal has come under scrutiny following reports of a potential security breach. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has recommended immediate security measures to safeguard the portal and its users, including prompt password resets, for all accounts suspected of compromise.

On November 19, a communication was sent to the director of Social Welfare and all district magistrates by the special commissioner to the Government of West Bengal, informing them about the potential breach, it was learnt.

The letter stated: “The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has flagged a potential security breach on the Kanyashree portal, which may have compromised specific stakeholder accounts.” In addition to changing passwords, the NIC recommended several other security measures that included ensuring operating systems, browsers, plugins and related software are updated to their latest versions; removing any unauthorised or legacy software from affected systems; enabling firewalls and installing suitable anti-malware, anti-ransomware, and anti-exploit software; scheduling and executing regular system scans; advising users against saving credentials in any web browser.