Indian govt. sets up NIC-CERT to tackle cyber-attacks

The union information technology (IT) ministry has set up NIC-CERT, a dedicated unit that will monitor, detect and prevent cyber attacks on government networks.

"All communications between government departments — Centre, State and district, as well as interactions between the government and the citizens takes place through NIC’s network," Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "The NIC-CERT will help us in our pursuit of a safe cyberspace by early detection of any attack on India’s systems,” he added.

Besides, the government has called a meeting of state IT ministers which will also include discussions on cybersecurity and safety.

Talking about the centre, Prasad said it will monitor the traffic and movement of information across various networks against any suspicious activity. It will also alert the concerned parties in case it detects any malicious activity. National Informatics Centre (NIC) helps government agencies build their digital presence.

"This is establishment of an institution in Indias pursuit of safe and secure cyberspace. Any unusual movement on the NIC network, any attacks, intrusions will be detected and cleaned," Prasad said.

“There are a lot of personally identifiable and sensitive data which is shared on our platform and it is our mandate to protect the data. With the establishment of NIC-CERT, we will be able to monitor the data in real time and protect the data in a better manner,” said Neeta Verma, director general of NIC.

NIC-CERT currently has a team of about 30 cybersecurity professionals working in two shifts. This is in addition to the more than 300 people in the cybersecurity team who already work at the NIC.

NIC-CERT will operate in close co-ordination and collaboration with other sectoral CERTs and more so with CERT-In, she added. The government had already announced setting up of sectoral CERTs (computer emergency response teams) for sectors such as finance and power.