Lok Sabha Question No. 588 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-19
Subject: Cyber Attack
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: JITENDRA CHAUDHURY, DHARAM VIRA GANDHI, HARISH CHANDRA MEENA, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL, RAJU ALIAS DEVAPPA ANNA SHETTI, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 588

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CYBER ATTACK

## 588 SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY:  SHRI DHARAM VIRA: SHRI HARISH MEENA:  SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL: SHRI RAJU SHETTY:  SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether recently there was a world-wide cyber attack including India;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the damages caused as a result thereof;
- (c) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard;
- (d) whether any study has been conducted to identify the cyber threats in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether adequate number of cyber security experts are available in the country and if so, the steps being taken in this regard; and
- (f)  whether  Government  is  planning  to  amend  the  existing  regulations  for  promotion  of  cyber security and if so, the steps being taken in this regard, so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

- (a)  and  (b):  Propagation of  ransomware called WannaCry / WannaCrypt  has been reported in many countries around the world including India since 12 May 2017.   Propagation of another ransomware  called  Petya  was  also  reported  since  27  June  2017.  Ransomware  is  a  type  of malicious  software  that  infects  a  computer  and  restricts  users'  access  to  affected  files  by encrypting them until a ransom is paid to unlock it.

34 incidents have been reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) from organisations and individuals regarding infections of Wannacry and Petya ransomware. As reported to CERT-In, operations of one sea port were partially affected by the Petya ransomware. Remedial measures to contain damage and prevent such incidents have been advised by CERT-In.

- (c):      The  following  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  prevent  recent  ransomware attacks, namely:-
- i. CERT-In  has  issued  an  advisory regarding detection and  prevention  of  Wannacry ransomware on its website on 13 May 2017. Advisory regarding detection and prevention of Petya ransomware was issued by CERT-In on 27 June 2017.
- ii. CERT-In has issued a vulnerability note on its website with a Severity Rating of 'High' on March  15,  2017  suggesting  information  regarding  vulnerabilities  in  Microsoft  Windows systems which have been exploited by Wannacry  ransomware  alongwith  remedial measures.
- iii. CERT-In has informed various key oragnisations in the country regarding the ransomware threat and advised measures to be taken to prevent the same. A webcast was also conducted in this regard for organisations and users.

iv. Free tools for detection and removal of wannacry ransomware have been provided on the website of Cyber Swachhta Kendra (www.cyberswachhtakendra.gov.in).

Apart  from  the  specific  steps  mentioned  above,  the  following  steps  have  also  been  taken  to prevent malware/ransomware threats, namely:-

- i. The CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures to protect systems and mobile devices.
- ii. Government has launched the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre). The centre is providing detection of malicious programs and free tools to remove the same for banks as well as common users.
- iii. Security tips have been published for users to secure their Desktops and mobile/smart phones.
- iv. Ministry  of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (MEITY)  regularly  conducts programs  to  generate  information  security  awareness.  Specific  book,  videos  and online materials are developed for children, parents and general users about information security which are disseminated through Portals like 'http://infosecawareness.in/'  and www.cyberswachhtakendra.in

(d): In tune with the dynamic nature of Information Technology and limited  time available for an  effective  response,  continuous  efforts  are  required  to  be  made  to  detect  and  prevent  cyber attacks by way of   continuous threat assessment and near real-time situational awareness.  Such timely information enables coordinated actions by the stakeholders to take appropriate proactive and preventive actions.

Concerted  efforts  are  being  made  to  harvest  the  requisite  information  from  multiple  sources. These  include  incidents  reported  to  and  tracked  by  CERT-In,  technical  measures,  security cooperation  arrangement  with  overseas  Computer  Emergency  Response  Teams  (CERTs)  and leading  security  product  and  service  vendors  as  well  as  agencies  within  the  government.  In addition,  the  study  reports  published  by  various  agencies  across  the  world  are  also  studied  to understand the historical data with respect to global threat landscape and threat predictions. As such, Government has not conducted a separate study to identify cyber threats.

(e): Towards enhancing qualified cyber security manpower, following steps have been taken, namely:-

- i. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is implementing the Information Security Education  and  Awareness  (ISEA)  project  which  aims  to  generate  1.14  lakhs  qualified professionals  at  various  levels  in  period  of  5  years.    A  total  of  52  institutions  in  various categories  across  the  country  are  participating  in  the  project.    Besides,  National  Institute  of Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (NIELIT)  is  conducting  certification  courses  for creation of cyber security professionals.
- ii. CERT-In conducts regular training programme to make the network and system administrators aware about securing the IT infrastructure and mitigating cyber attacks. CERT-In is regularly conducting  Cyber  Crisis  Management  Plan  (CCMP)  workshops  for  Central  Government Ministries/Departments, States & UTs and critical sector organisations to sensitise them about the cyber security threat landscape, enabling them to prepare and implement the Cyber Crisis Management Plan as well as participate in the mock drill exercises.
- iii. Cyber  forensics  training  lab  has  been  set  up  at  Training  Academy  of  Central  Bureau  of Investigation (CBI), Ghaziabad to impart basic and advanced training in cyber forensics and investigation  of  cybercrimes  to  police  officers.  In  addition,  Government  has  set  up  cyber forensic  training  and  investigation  labs  in  the  States  of  Kerala,  Assam,  Mizoram,  Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir for training of law enforcement personnel and Judiciary in these States.
- iv. Data Security Council of India (DSCI), NASSCOM and Cyber Forensic Labs set up in certain States,  have  taken  up  tasks  of  awareness  creation  and  training  programmes  on  Cyber  Crime
5. investigation.    Academia  like  National  Law  School,  Bangalore  and  NALSAR  University  of Law, Hyderabad are also engaged in conducting several awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber crimes for judicial officers.
- v. NASSCOM  &  DSCI  have  been  working  under  the  aegis  of  National  Skill  Development Corporation, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, on developing standardized content  for  the  key  job  roles  that  have  been  identified  based  on  the  industry  inputs, requirements and response.

(f):Presently there is no proposal with the Government to amend the Information Technology Act, 2000.

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