HYDERABAD: As the situation at the Sino-Indian border remains tense and the relations between the two countries fast deteriorating, the skirmish is expected to enter the cyberspace soon. As far as Telangana is concerned, authorities are confident about the State’s cybersecurity infrastructure but are careful not to rule out any chance of such an attack on the government’s servers and websites. Allaying fears at this juncture, City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said the Hyderabad police’s cybersecurity infrastructure is among the most advanced in the country.
“Our cybersecurity infrastructure is one of the best in the country. The Hyderabad police’s hi-tech equipment is used by Central agencies too,” he told Express. Anjani Kumar said he visited the city police’s cybersecurity facility on Wednesday, took stock of the situation and had a detailed meeting with those concerned. “Our firewall is very safe. Apart from this, our police is regularly trained in such issues. Private experts also help in this regard,” he added. All police-related data is stored at the Telangana State Police Data Centre, which is maintained by Genetec.
Pinning hopes on Security Operations Centre
As for the State government, which has stored its data at the State Data Hub in Gachibowli, it is banking on the Security Operations Centre established about three years ago. “In the last three years, our Security Operations Centre could prevent major cyber attacks. No government website has been attacked.
We have well-trained experts who keep track of this 24x7,” IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said. But Ranjan was quick not to dismiss hackers and their capabilities, who according to many authorities “are always a step ahead”. Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts demand more transparency into the entire process.
Cyber experts demand transparency
“When it comes to creating user-friendly technology, Telangana may be the leader in the country, but cybersecurity is a different ball game. A white paper should be published by the State government on how they intend to tackle such threats,” Anil Rachmachalla, an Internet ethics and digital wellness expert, said. Sai Krishna of Global Cybersecurity Forum said the government should make sure that merely having hi-fi technology is not enough, but timely updates should be ensured.
A recent report by K7 Security’s Cyber Threat Monitor Threat put Hyderabad along with two other metros at 35 per cent infection rate, which is second only to Chennai. There have been numerous Covid- theme attacks where benignlooking emails have flooded users’ e-mail accounts. But these e-mails contain malicious attachments that are crafted to download dangerous malware on users’ devices.
Top cop says firewall ‘very safe’
Allaying fears, City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar says the Hyderabad police’s cybersecurity infrastructure is among the most advanced in the country. “Our firewall is very safe. Also, our police is regularly trained in such issues and private experts help too,” he said