Lok Sabha Question No. 1381 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-31
Subject: Singapore-based Cyber Security
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Balashowry Vallabhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1381

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 31.07.2024

## SINGAPORE-BASED CYBER SECURITY

## 1381.   SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI:

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

- (a) whether Government is aware of the Indian Threat Landscape Report by Singaporebased cyber security firm Cyfirma Report which indicates that State-sponsored cyber attacks on the country has gone up by nearly 300% in three years between 2021 and September, 2023;
- (b) whether  it  is  also  true  that  services  companies,  Business  Process  Outsourcing (BPOs)have seen the highest attacks;
- (c) whether it is also true that targeted cyber attacks on Government agencies has gone up by460% and on Start Ups and MSMEs gone up by 500%; and
- (d) whether Government is planning to contain this and protect our cyberspace?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (d): Government has taken following measures to enhance the cyber security posture and prevent cyber attacks:

- (i) CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures  to  protect  computers,  mobile  phones,  networks  and  data  on  an ongoing basis.
- (ii) CERT-In works in coordination with service providers, regulators and Law Enforcement  Agencies  (LEAs)  to  track  and  disable  phishing  websites  and  facilitate investigation of fraudulent activities.
- (iii) CERT-In  has  issued  an  advisory  to  various  Ministries  outlining  the  measures  to  be taken for strengthening the cyber security by all entities that are processing the digital personal data or information including sensitive personal data or information.
- (iv) CERT-In, through RBI, has advised all authorised entities and banks issuing pre-paid payment instruments (wallets) in the country to carry out special audit by CERT-Inempanelled  auditors,  close  the  non-compliances  identified  in  the  audit  report  and ensure implementation of security best practices.
- (v) CERT-In  has  empanelled  176  security  auditing  organisations  to  support  and  audit implementation of Information Security Best Practices.
- (vi) CERT-In  has  issued  guidelines  on  information  security  practices  for  government entities in June 2023 covering domains such as data security, network security, identity and  access  management,  application  security,  third-party  outsourcing,  hardening procedures, security monitoring, incident management and security auditing.
- (vii) CERT-In  operates  an  automated  cyber  threat  exchange  platform  for  proactively collecting,  analysing  and  sharing  tailored  alerts  with  organisations  across  sectors  for proactive threat mitigation actions by them.
- (viii) CERT-In  operates  the  Cyber  Swachhta  Kendra  (Botnet  Cleaning  and  Malware Analysis Centre) to detect malicious programs and provides free tools to remove the same,  and  also  provides  cyber  security  tips  and  best  practices  for  citizens  and organisations.
- (ix) CERT-In has formulated a Cyber 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.
- (x) Cyber security mock drills are being conducted regularly to enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organisations in Government and critical sectors. 92  such  drills  have  so  far  been  conducted  by  CERT-In  where  around  1,400 organizations from different States and sectors participated.
- (xi) CERT-In  has  set  up  the  National  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  (NCCC)  to  generate necessary situational awareness of existing and potential cyber security threats.
- (xii) CERT-In  provides  leadership  for  the  Computer  Security  Incident  Response  TeamFinance  Sector  (CSIRT-Fin)  operations  under  its  umbrella  for  responding  to  and containing and mitigating cyber security incidents reported from the financial sector.
- (xiii) CERT-In  regularly conducts trainings / workshops to train technical staff of Government,  Public  and  Private  sector  organizations  including  StartUps  and  Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across all sectors on focused topics of Cyber Security.  During  2024,  till  June,  CERT-In  has  conducted  9  trainings  on  various specialized topics of cyber security covering 4,166 participants including system/Network Administrators and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs).
- (xiv) Security tips have been published for users to secure their desktops and mobile phones and to prevent phishing attacks.
- (xv) CERT-In regularly carries out various activities for awareness and citizen sensitization with respect to cyber-attacks and cyber frauds
- (xvi) CERT-In  and  the  Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  jointly  carry  out  a  cyber  security awareness campaign on 'beware and be aware of financial frauds' through the Digital India Platform.
- (xvii) The  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  conducts  programmes  to generate  information  security  awareness.  Books,  videos  and  online  materials  about information  security  are  developed  for  general  users,  children  and  parents,  and  are disseminated through portals such as www.infosecawareness.in and www.csk.gov.in.
- (xviii) Department of Telecom has set up a Telecom Security Operation Centre (TSOC) for monitoring  and  detecting  potential  cyber-  threats to  Indian  telecom  network  and providing timely alerts to stakeholders for necessary actions.

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