Shourie unveils expert team to tackle cyber attacks

With growing instances of cyber attacks on the country’s vital systems like power, railways, aviation and Defence, the government on Monday announced the setting up of an expert vigilance agency to tackle any possible hacking or virus attacks. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) would provide reactive and proactive services for enhancing cyber security, IT and Communications Minister Arun Shourie said here.

‘‘There are acupuncture points in integrated systems like power supply systems, railway signalling systems, stock markets, and any attack on these points would disable many services. In such a case the consequences for the civilian society can be disorientation and the enemy can take advantage of that,’’ he said.

Shourie read out a message by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that stated CERT-IN would address the security concerns of critical computer networks of India besides serving the cyber community through effective awareness campaigns. According to an estimate, as many as 1,687 Indian websites were hacked from 288 websites in 2002. The projected loss due to hacking and virus attacks in 2003 is likely to be $119-$145 billion.