Lok Sabha Question No. 630 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Hacking of Websites
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Hemant Tukaram Godse

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.630

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 05.02.2020

## HACKING OF WEBSITES

## 630.    SHRI HEMANT TUKARAM GODSE:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether several cases of hacking of websites, belonging to important institutions and ministries like MHA etc. have been reported in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reaction  of  the  Government  thereto  along  with  the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  earmarked  any  agency  for  quick  response  to  such exigencies;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with the other corrective measures being taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to formulate any action plan to counter such cases in near future and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR  ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a)  to  (e):  As  per  the  information  reported  to  and  tracked  by  Indian  Computer  Emergency Response  Team  (CERT-In)  a  total  number  of  172,  110  and  54  websites  of  Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments were hacked during the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Government has taken several steps to prevent cyber security incidents and enhancing cyber security in the country. These, inter alia, include :

- (i)              Government  has  established  National  Critical  Information  Infrastructure  Protection Centre (NCIIPC) for protection of critical information infrastructure in the country, as per the provisions of section 70A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
- (ii)          The  Indian  Computer  Emergency  Response  Team  (CERT-In)  issues  alerts  and advisories regarding latest cyber threats and countermeasures on regular basis. CERTIn  has  published  guidelines for securing  IT infrastructure, which are available on its website (www.cert-in.org.in).
- (iii)    Government  has  issued  guidelines  for  Chief  Information  Security  Officers  (CISOs) regarding their key roles and responsibilities for securing applications / infrastructure and compliance.
- (iv)    All  the  government  websites  and  applications  are  to  be  audited  with  respect  to  cyber security  prior  to  their  hosting.  The  auditing  of  the  websites  and  applications  are conducted on a regular basis after hosting also.
- (v)      Government  has  empanelled  90  security  auditing  organisations  to  support  and  audit implementation of Information Security Best Practices.
- (vi)        All  organizations  providing  digital  services  have  been  mandated  to  report  cyber security incidents to CERT-In expeditiously.
- (vii)  Government has formulated Crisis Management Plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism for implementation by all Ministries/ Departments of Central Government, State Governments and their organizations and critical sectors.
- (viii)  Cyber  security  mock  drills  and  exercises  are  being  conducted  regularly  to  enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations in Government and critical sectors. 44 such exercises have so far been conducted by CERT-In where 265 organisations from different sectors such as Finance, Defence, Power, Telecom, Transport, Energy, Space, IT/ITeS sectors participated.
- (ix)    CERT-In conducts regular training programmes for network / system administrators and  Chief  Information  Security  Officers  (CISOs)  of  Government  and  critical  sector organisations  regarding  securing  the  IT  infrastructure  and  mitigating  cyber  attacks. Total of 23 trainings covering 692 participants conducted in the year 2019.
- (x)     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.
- (xi)        Government  has  set  up  National  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  (NCCC)  to  generate necessary  situational  awareness  of  existing  and  potential  cyber  security  threats  and enable timely information sharing for proactive, preventive and protective actions by individual entities. Phase-I of NCCC has been made operational.

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