Sources : Ahmedabad Mirror

Date of Publishing:19/7/2010

Location:Ahmedabad

Officials say army’s networks are well-secured and can thwart cyber attacks

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army is fighting attacks in the cyber world with electronic warfare capability of the “highest standard”, say officials.

"The army is cognisant of the threat to its cyber space from various state and non-state actors. But our network is well secured in compliance with the highest standards of cyber security," a senior official at the military headquarters said.

The official said the army had established an "impenetrable and secure wide area network exclusively for its functioning".

CONCERNS REMAIN OFFICIALS IN the 1.3 million force, however, privately admit that they are facing "next generation threats" and are worried over the complex world of cyber warfare amid reports of Chinese and Pakistani spies targeting the Indian military establishment.

Though attacks from hackers can come from anywhere in the world, cyber onslaughts have been more frequent from China and Pakistan, which have reportedly been peeking into India’s sensitive business, diplomatic and strategic records.

CHINA, PAKISTAN POSE THREAT AS PER reports from the cyber industry, China and Pakistan hackers steal nearly six million files worldwide every day. A report by US-based Defence Systems magazine found that there were 25 million new strains of malware created in 2009. That equals a new strain of malware every 0.79 seconds. The report underlines how the current cyber threat environment is dramatically changing and becoming more challenging as the clock ticks.

However, the army is confident. Revealing that secret information had been secured, the official said various "cryptographic controls" had been incorporated in the wake of a significant number of viruses, worms and other forms of malware.

To address cyber defence, which is also under threat from terrorist outfits that have their own trained recruits, officials said the army frequently upgraded its comprehensive cyber security policy to pro-actively deal with and anticipate these threats.

The force has established the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to respond to attacks targeting the army's critical systems and infrastructure. AGENCIES

The army has established a special division to respond to cyber attacks

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