SOC thwarts more than 1,700 cyber attacks in past two months
PNS | DEHRADUN
Considering the attempted cyber attack which hampered the operation of various government websites in the recent past, the authorities have made various changes to strengthen cyber security in the State. The data backup and recovery policy has been reviewed and amended to maintain continuity as part of these measures. The measures taken by the authorities have thwarted more than 1,700 cyber attacks in recent months, officials said.
The Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) director Nitika Khandelwal informed that various important steps have been taken recently to ensure the smooth and secure functioning of the State data centre. Various policies were reviewed and amended according to the requirements of the present times in order to ensure the secure operation of the State data centre. She said, “The data backup and recovery policy has been amended to ensure the smooth functioning of the data centre. Specific guidelines have been issued for data backup and recovery to ensure that the data is secure in case there is any damage, equipment failure or disaster.”
Under these guidelines, a specific backup procedure will be followed to ensure its safety. Important data will be safely transferred and encrypted along with being stored offsite regularly. Further, the integrity of the data will be examined at a minimum interval of every three months. The important data will be accorded priority according to the level of its sensitivity. In addition to this, the 3-2-1 strategy will be adopted for data retention. According to this system, three copies of the data including the production data and two backup copies must be maintained for recovery on two separate media- disk and tape along with one offsite copy. Apart from this, other steps have also been taken for ensuring the security of the State’s cyber system. Khandelwal informed that the operation of a 24×7 Security Operation Centre (SOC) has been started and during the past two months, more than 1,700 cyber attacks have been thwarted. The user response system has been improved and strengthened to improve the user experience. She further said that various steps had been taken in the past too for enhancing cyber security and the latest measures are part of a consistent process observed for improvement.
