PIONEER EDFGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
In an important decision, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) has decided to establish a security operations centre (SOC) to ensure effective compliance with the cyber security guidelines of Government of India. The managing director of UPCL, Anil Kumar Yadav said that the primary objective of SOC will be to continuously monitor the corporation’s IT infrastructure, networks, servers and digital systems on a 24×7 basis to protect the corporation from cyber threats. It will also identify, analyse and provide prompt response to cyber threats and enable timely response to potential cyber-attacks, breaches, malware, ransomware and other security incidents.
The operation of the SOC will significantly enhance the corporation’s information security capabilities and ensure the reliability and continuity of digital services, he said.
UPCL has designated superintending engineer Vikas Gupta as the CISO officer and executive engineer Mohan Mittal as the assistant CISO officer. The cyber security guidelines of the Union government focus on use of latest operating system updates, security patching and updated anti-virus solutions in all desktops, laptops and servers, use of only authorized software/applications and avoidance of unauthorized software. The guidelines also prescribe adherence to a strong password policy, regular password changes, use of multi-factor authentication and instructions not to share or store passwords insecurely. It focuses on safe use of official email accounts, caution against emails, links or attachments received from unknown sources, blanket authorised emails, use of services and vigilance against phishing and malware.
“UPCL is regularly conducting activities related to continuous monitoring, internal evaluation and awareness for employees in the area of cyber security and has set up a security operation centre, so that the digital infrastructure of UPCL remains safe, transparent and functions smoothly. UPCL will continuously make efforts to strengthen its information technology and digital security systems in accordance with the policies of the Government of India,’’ he said.
