Working towards achieving cyber resilience: Lokesh

‘Response to ethical hacking to identify grey areas encouraging’

Making strides: N. Lokesh (centre) at the inaugural of the AP Cybersecurity Summit, in Visakhapatnam.

Andhra Pradesh is all set to become cyber resilient by keeping all its websites and servers secure from attacks and viruses in the emerging landscape of digital payments and disruptive technologies, IT Minister N. Lokesh has said.

Inaugurating the two-day Andhra Pradesh Cybersecurity Summit being organised by the Fintech Valley Vizag and Mastercard here on Friday, Mr. Lokesh said they had already launched the A.P. Cybersecurity Operations Centres (APSOC) by inviting techies to resort to ethical hacking to expose the vulnerability of the government’s websites and networks.

“The response to ethical hacking is quite encouraging, and we will identify the grey areas shortly to make our systems more fool-proof to keep the hackers and cyber criminals/fraudsters at bay,” he said.

‘Startup State’

Describing Andhra Pradesh as a startup State formed in 2014, he said, “We are being agile and very hungry to grow fast with a per capita income of ₹1.25 lakh, the lowest among south Indian States.” Mr. Lokesh said, “Due to the vision of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, we could ensure a double-digit growth. We aim at scaling it up to 15%.”

IT hubs

He said Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Anantapur, and Amaravati were being developed as leading IT hubs in various fields. The Minister said the State had set up the International Institute of Digital Technologies (IIDT) in Tirupati by partnering with various industries to create next generation professionals.

“Our dream is to produce an army of next generation warriors, so that our children will excel in the newly emerging technologies,” he sad. Executive director, Community Relations & Public Policy, Mastercard, Ravi Aurora, said, “Safety and security has always been at the forefront of our agenda. We feel the summit has played a pivotal role in building awareness about cybersecurity and hop the conference will help in sharing experiences on preventing digital frauds and protecting businesses and individuals.”

Computer Emergency Response Team director general Sanjay Bahl; IT Principal Secretary K. Vijayanand; and IT Advisor to the CM and Special CS J.A. Chowdary spoke.