Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of Information Technology

(A CERT-In Empanelled organisation of Govt. M.P Under Dept. of Science & Technology)

Telecommunications. The IT Act, 2000, as amended in 2008, provides for protection of CII under section 70A. The government will designate an organization as the national nodal agency for CII protection, which will be responsible for all measures to protect CII.

### Cyber Security in Government Context

At the National level CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team of India) is working closely together with their empaneled partner organizations to ensure that a continuous and acceptable security posture of all the identified Critical IT Infrastructures and systems is maintained. CII in India as of now comprises of around 150 Internet and telecom service providers, offering Internet, mobile and wireless connectivity to a user base of nearly 800 million. CERT-In is mandated under the IT Amendment Act, 2008 to serve as the national agency in charge of cyber security. In the meantime, real oversight over cyber security may be said to be distributed amongst the Ministries of Communication and Technology, Home Affairs and Defense, and the office of the NSA. However, to safeguard the whole nation and ensure safety of CIIs across the national, the IT Amendment Act, 2008 clearly defines the proactive role of sectorial CERTs, Regional CERTs and State wide CERTs on the lines of CERT-In.

### Cyber Security - Legal Provision

The IT Act of 2008 covers all actions in Cyber Security domain. Sections 69, 69A and 69B contain provisions for intercepting, monitoring or blocking traffic where, amongst other reasons, there is a threat to national security. Section 70A covers protection of critical infrastructure. There is a need to prioritize and protect critical infrastructure. In the USA 18 sectors have been identified. In India's case, the sectors of power, water supply, communications, transportation, defense and finance have been identified as vital constituents primed for national security. These critical sectors need to be defined and suitable protection measures ensured as laid down in the IT Act in a periodic and continuous manner.

## 4.Security Testing Government of India initiatives - IT Act/CII/CERT-IN

The success of a security programme lies in the ability of an organisation to swiftly respond to security threats and attacks. This requires more proactive delivery of security intelligence. The Government of India has initiated the following measures to counter Cyber Security:

- 1. The Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended by the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 has been enforced on 27.10.2009. The Act provides legal framework to address the issues connected with hacking and security breaches of information technology infrastructure.
- 2. Section 70 of the Act provides to declare any computer resource which directly or indirectly affects the facility of Critical Information Infrastructure, to be a protected system. Further, Section 70B has empowered Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) to serve as national nodal agency in the area of cyber security.
- 3. National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre(NCIIPC) has been designated by the Government of India as the nodal agency for the protection of CIIs including associated Research and Development, under Section 70A(1) of the Act.
- 4. Computer Emergency Response Team India (CERT-In ) scans the Indian Cyber Space to detect traces of any untoward incident that poses a threat to the cyber space. CERT-In performs both proactive and reactive roles in computer security incidents prevention, identification of solution to security problems, analysing product vulnerabilities, malicious codes, webdefacements, open proxy servers and in carrying out relevant research and development.

State IT Center, 47-A, Arera Hills, Bhopal -462011, Tel: +91-755-2518702

Website: www.mapit.gov.in|| Email: info@mapit.gov.in