DoT asks websites to conduct security audit, upgrade systems amid rising Chinese cyber attacks

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked all websites and portals to conduct a security audit amid the rise in threats of cyber-attacks by Chinese hackers.

The notice comes after the recent border dispute in the Galwan region of Ladakh and the government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps over data security concerns.

DoT’s circular states that these websites and portals should carry out an audit and also upgrade the security of systems used by officials in the ministry.

“Most of these attacks are in the nature of DDOS (distributed denial of service), phishing, data exfiltration, remote access tool malware and keylogging,” an official told The Indian Express. 

Another official stated that most of these attacks and malware have Command and Control (CnC) servers in China. “Right after the (border) clashes, we observed up to 10,000 attack attempts per day. It has come down a bit but we have to be alert,” the official added.

The DoT had previously asked the websites and portals under it to conduct a security audit by November 2019. The latest reminder also states that websites that do not have a valid security certificate will need to conduct an audit on an immediate basis. 

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) had previously issued an advisory warning that the potential phishing attacks could impersonate government agencies, departments and trade bodies that have been tasked to oversee the disbursement of government fiscal aid. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) email server was also attacked in June but prompt action resulted in no data loss. 

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The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had warned against a large-scale cyber attack against individuals and businesses.