PM Narendra Modi reportedly shared an important cybersecurity top with bureaucrats at a meeting recently. According to a report in News18, PM Modi asked bureaucrats if they made sure that they log off from their systems at the end of the day.
“Do you log out of your IT systems after the day’s work? I do…it is important for cyber security” -— This was Prime Minister Modi’s advice to senior bureaucrats at a meeting recently as he stressed upon the issue of cyber security, as per News18 report.
PM Modi has also reportedly told the officers that one person in every office can be designated to go around at the end of the day and ensure that all systems have been logged out. The PM said that he himself religiously follows this tip. He said that he makes sure that he logs out of his system when he goes home and impressed upon the officers how open systems could be prone to cyberattacks.
PM Modi told the officers about his meeting with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates earlier this year and how they discussed the issue of cybersecurity.
Post PM’s meeting, written directions have been issued by the Cabinet Secretary to all ministries. As per the report the directions asl “ministries to take steps to make their IT systems resilient and to sensitise the officers to ensure unscrupulous adherence to cyber security guidelines and protocols…this should be a continuing endeavour”.
In the past few years, cyber security has become a top concern for the government following a number of cyberattacks on government systems. India’s premier hospital AIIMS suffered a major cyber attack in December 2022. Air India, before privatisation, too suffered a major hacking attack with millions of its customer data exposed in early 2021.
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