THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Faced with a variety of cyber attacks, the government is game for proactive steps to minimise the impact. Moving in that direction, a command and control centre will be set up to monitor the network of computers in government offices.
The Security Operations Centre will offer continuous monitoring and give alerts in case of an attack in any of the systems connected to the network.“We have been more reactive to cyber attacks so far,” Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Director of Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM), told Express.“But the new centre will enable proactive action.” The recent WannaCry malware spread, though it had a minimal effect in the state, opened the eyes of the authorities about the vulnerability of local computer networks. Besides causing data loss, a malware attack cripples services.
The centre is likely to come up near the Secretariat.“The centre will be run by a third party. We will float tenders for finding an operator,” Rao said.Government websites and computers are under frequent threat from hackers. With government files and services going increasingly digital, awareness of cyber security threats is important to prepare for global malware threats such as the WannaCry which infected computers in eight grama panchayats.
KSITM is in the process of introducing a mandatory cyber security awareness course for government employees in the wake of the cyber attack. Lessons on cyber security topics such as password security, careful use of email etc. will be imparted through animated videos.