The Indian government is warning its employees to not use services like Google Drive, Dropbox and third-party virtual private networks (VPN) in order to secure the systems from possible cyber threats.
These measures are reportedly part of a 10-page guideline from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) this week. Its 24-pointer measure basically lists down the cyber security do’s and don’ts for the government employees in the country.
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Multiple reports have quoted the guideline, suggesting any use of third-party applications should be avoided for the sake of security. We have also independently verified the document, which is available on the Ministry of Highways website, as mentioned by Business Standard in its report.
The government also does not its employees to download confidential data on any non-government cloud service. It also orders that nobody installs third-party toolbars on their web browsers. It seems the Centre wants its employees to follow basic cyber hygiene, which also includes measures like not sharing passwords with an unauthorised person, or using external storage devices (like the USB drive) on government systems.
“The increasing adoption and use of ICT has increased the attack surface and threat perception to the government, due to the lack of proper cyber security practices followed on the ground,” NIC highlights in its guidelines over here.
All these steps are well-advised but restricting the use of services like Google Drive and VPN apps suggests the government is clearing up the decks for its own authorised services. We still don’t know what those are, and the government has not mentioned what the alternatives for these big tech platforms are available to its employees.
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Security analysts have observed a rampant increase in cyber attacks on government entities, and the fresh NIC guidelines ought to be adhered to by government employees, and the measures detailed here are genuine and they may sound simple but are equally effective to thwart possible attacks from third party actors with the intention to steal confidential government data.
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