The central government has started a drive to upgrade its IT equipment and infrastructure so that all electronic, data storage and communication devices used in government departments and agencies remain within the life span specified by the manufacturer and remain immune to cyber threats.
The move comes in the wake of a large number of cyber security incidents reported by Cert-In, a nodal agency for responding to such incidents and a recent ransomware attack at country’s top medical institute All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi on 23 November.
The ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) has directed all secretaries of central ministries to actively take actions with regards to cyber security. Use of out-of-date operating systems and IT equipment must be discontinued, Meity said in a communication reviewed by Mint.