HYDERABAD: Amid increasing internet shutdowns across the country due to the protests against the Citizenship Law, Hyderabad’s IT industry need not bother if a similar situation hits the city, assured IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan. Speaking to Express, Ranjan said, “For instance, when a disaster such as the Chennai floods occurs, not only is the internet is affected but the offices are shut. However, every company has a disaster recovery plan.”
Ranjan said that companies have backups of their data in remote locations. “Many organisations in Chennai have backups in Hyderabad. And every work which they do, a copy of is it sent to Hyderabad. One or two persons keep monitoring everything that is happening. Companies are prepared for it, although internet shutdowns are a new phenomenon,” he added.
However, security activists raised an alarm on the kind of effect it would have on the IT industry. Sai Krishna, chairman of the Global Cybersecurity Forum said, “The entire corporate industry, their digital transmission is based on the Internet. Upcoming technologies, such as those that are cloud-based, are totally dependent on the Internet.
The whole corporate industry would shut down.”Srinivas Kodali, an independent security researcher, said, “Shutting down the Internet or any form of communications will only cause harm to people and doesn’t help in containing any emergency situation. Research, in particular, has shown this is the case.”