I & B ministry warns officials on data security 

What is the news? 

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has prohibited the sharing of top secret or secret documents by its officials over Internet.  

What is the detailed order on data security by the ministry? 

The ministry has advised government officials to not use digital assistant devices such as Amazon’s Echo, Google Home in the office and turn off digital assistants (like Alexa, Siri) in their smartphones or watches.  

Numerous government officials use private messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram for communication of classified information. The Ministry said such a practice violated the Departmental Security instructions and the National Information Security Policy Guidelines. 

The Ministry has also cautioned that the classification of top secret or secret information should not be downgraded to “confidential” or “restricted” for the purpose of sharing it over the Internet. 

What is the alternative proposed by the ministry? 

According to the order, top secret and secret documents should be shared only in a closed network with the leased line connectivity where the Scientific Analysis Group (SAG) grade encryption mechanism is deployed.  

The SAG functions under the Defence Research & Development Organisation.  

Confidential and restricted information should be shared on Internet via networks having a commercial Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit mechanism.  

Government email facility or government instant messaging platforms such as the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC)’s Samvad and the National Informatics Centre’s Sandesh for communicating such information can also be used. 

Source: This post is based on the article “I & B ministry warns officials on data security” published in The Hindu on 19th Feb 2022.