Govt scans defence networks’ security

NEW DELHI: An unprecedented network security drive is being conducted across government networks deployed by the armed forces, the Defence Research & Development Organisation and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, sources told DNA.

This disclosure follows several DNA reports about a wave of hacker attacks, originating in mainland China, on the government’s secure networks hosting emails and other critical systems. Over the last eight weeks, email accounts of 200 top Indian bureaucrats and senior officers of the armed forces had been “captured” or compromised by hackers.

“The black box pen test and other globally-accepted network tests are being deployed across all our ultra-secure networks,” said an intelligence official.

Another official said it was wrong to assume that espionage was going on. In cyber intelligence, it is common for a system or a country to open itself up in a strategic way to track hackers.

US intelligence agencies produced a simulation for internal awareness about a hacker attack leading to a breakdown in power supply and crucial infrastructure.