KOCHI: In the wake of repeated hacker attacks on government websites in the past three years, the Kerala government has decided to set up a state-of-the-art Security Operations Centre (SOC). The centre, to be set up under the Built, Operate, Manage and Transfer model, would detect, analyse and respond to cybersecurity threats on government websites and data servers.
Kerala State IT Mission has started the formalities for setting up the SOC which is pegged to be a major cybersecurity project of the state government at a cost ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore. According to officers, the IT Mission has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from experienced organisations for setting up the SOC.
“We are going for the SOC to protect the data in the servers and also prevent any further hacking of government websites. We need to have a well-defined security system to protect the data on the servers and the SOC will emerge as the core centre for protecting the same,” said Computer Emergency Response Team-Kerala (CERT-K) manager A Renjith.
The SOC will detect, analyse and respond to cybersecurity attacks using a combination of technology solutions and a strong set of processes. “The SOC will be equipped to monitor and analyse activity on networks, servers, endpoints, databases, applications, websites and other systems. It will look for anomalous activity that could be indicative of a security incident or compromise. It will act as a preemptive centre to resist a cyber attack,” the officer said.
As per a report of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), 22,207 Indian websites, including 114 government portals were hacked between April 2017 and January 2018. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) also reported that 74 and six government websites hosted on NICNET were hacked between January 2017 and February 2018.