Urgent Response to Cyber Threat: Uttarakhand Boosts Cybersecurity Measures

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami convenes with state officials to address a malware incident disrupting the state's data centre, prioritizing a swift restart of public interest sites. Emphasizing bolstered cybersecurity, he orders the establishment of a cyber security task force, systematic audits, and cyber training for personnel.

In a decisive response to a recent malware attack, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami convened an urgent meeting with senior officials on Saturday. The focus was on swiftly addressing the closure of the state's data centre due to the cyber incident. Dhami instructed officials to expedite the scanning of the State Data Centre, ensuring that websites related to public welfare activities are operational by Monday.

The meeting drew participation from cybersecurity experts, police, and senior officials from key agencies such as the State Data Center, State Wide Area Network (SWAN), and National Informatics Centre (NIC). Emphasizing the need for heightened cybersecurity measures, the Chief Minister advocated for the formation of a dedicated cyber security task force. Leveraging expertise from premier IT agencies of the Indian government, Dhami asserted that the state's data security infrastructure must be modernized, with timely audits for the State Data Centre and associated online platforms.

Further directives included the establishment of a disaster recovery centre to safeguard crucial online data across various state departments. Dhami called for an in-depth review of ITDA's technical operations, warning of repercussions for negligence. He stressed the importance of filling all necessary ITDA positions swiftly and mandated cyber security training for all state employees to prevent future incidents. Notably, Secretary Nitesh Jha confirmed no data loss at the ITDA data centre, with only 11 out of 1378 machines affected. Efforts are ongoing to bring all impacted services back online.

(With inputs from agencies.)