Cyberwarfare signs: Govt alerts industry

Large groups, MSMEs asked to step up defences

- AASHISH ARYAN

The government is on high alert amid the threat of a cyberwarfare against Indian digital establishments and resources. Even as the India-Pakistan tension has de-escalated, the government is watching out for international ransomware groups and state-backed threat actors, who could step up their attempts to attack in the coming days and weeks, sources told Business Standard.

To take the threat head on, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) is reaching out to software firms, cybersecurity experts, chief information officers at large industrial groups, as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), sources said.

A new set of guidelines to ensure cybersecurity compliance has also been sent to industry stakeholders. The guidelines come along with instructions to report any incidents, minor or major, to the government, as well as a regular compliance audit structure, said a senior government official who did not wish to be named.

In case of any recorded cyberattacks, companies have been asked to ensure rapid detection and restoration of "public-facing assets in case of website-defacement attacks", and preserve all logs of the incident to ensure a third-party audit, if needed, the official pointed out.