Our cyber network is secure, says Union Minister

‘Counter measures are in place, but we need to upgrade periodically’

January 11, 2017 01:18 am | Updated 09:59 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

India has 8,000 government websites, and each is an independent on one and not integrated with the other, and that makes our cyber network a very secure one, says P.P. Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, and Electronics and Information Technology.

He was delivering the valedictory address at the 20th National Conference on E-Governance, here on Tuesday.

But the Minister was fast to add that the security policy would have to be revisited from time to time and cyber security system upgraded periodically.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been saying that there will be bloodless war in future. It means cyber terrorism. We are prepared for any kind of cyber attack with counter measures,” he said.

According to him, India has the largest biometric database, the Aadhaar link, and it has not been breached so far.

“This indicates our preparedness and our security system,” he told The Hindu after his address.

Mr. Choudhary pointed out that demonetisation had been a boon to digital infrastructure. Post demonetisation, it grew substantially and it would continue to grow.

But he admitted that the digital divide was still there in the rural areas and the gap should be bridged.

“The only way to bridge the gap is through increasing mobile connectivity. We have 102 crore mobile users in a population of 125 crore. This gap has to be bridged,” he said.

Calling for improvement in Internet penetration, he lauded Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s initiative of the Fibre Grid.

“AP is leading from the front, and Mr. Naidu’s vision matches with that of the Prime Minister,” he said.

According to Mr. Choudhary, e-governance has reached many departments, but more needs to be done in the education and health sectors.

“We are working out a model where Internet-linked 3D animation form of teaching would reach every school, college, and university. We are working towards smart education,” said Mr. Choudhary.

Though he expressed satisfaction in the IT and IT-Enables Services, he was critical of the hardware sector.

“We need to improve our hardware manufacturing. Today, we are importing close to Rs.3.5 lakh crore of electronic goods. We should aim at zero imports. This aspect is overshadowing the Rs.8 lakh crore IT and ITES exports,” he pointed out.

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