A new advisory has been issued by the security agencies to all the officers and ministries of the central government to prevent the leaking of confidential information of the country. Sources told News18 that under this guidelines have been issued to government officials and ministries regarding the use of digital devices.
According to the report, the guidelines of the National Communications Security Policy were being violated on a large scale. After this, important discussions in meetings and vigilance have been advised during work from home, sources told News18 that all government officials have been asked not to share important confidential information on WhatsApp and Telegram etc. Storage servers located outside are controlled by private companies.
The government fears that they may be misused. Sources say that instructions have also been issued for video conferencing to all the officers working from home or working from home.
Officers to follow communication security policy
Under the new guidelines, all ministries have been directed to take immediate steps to prevent such breaches and to follow the communication security policies while dealing with confidential information. A senior official with knowledge of the matter told News18 that many officers scan the confidential document and keep it in their mobile and share it with others through private applications. The new devices are a risk to national security and should be avoided for discussing important confidential information released by all ministries.
Ban on using Office Assistant devices
Top government sources said all ministries have been advised to keep their smartphones and smartwatches out of the room for important meetings where confidential issues are to be discussed. Officials in offices should not use office assistant devices like Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, Google Home etc. In future meetings where confidential issues are to be discussed, it is mandatory to turn off digital assistants like Siri and Alexa in smartphones and smartwatches before entry.
Cannot share confidential information during work from home
Sources told News18 that officers have been advised to avoid sharing confidential, secret information or documents from home while using digital office systems. The system must be connected to the office network via a virtual private network. Officials have been asked to use only good safety equipment.
Sources say that the electronic official system cannot be operated from home and it is mandatory to connect it through the office network. Apart from this, sources said that it has been said in the communication that during the video conference, no confidential information or issue should be discussed and this work should be done in the office. It has also been said that instead of private meeting applications, all officers and ministries should use the setup of the Government of India.
Why did the government give this instruction?
In fact, senior officials working in the cyber security field for many government departments say that countries like Pakistan and China create such applications, which can pose problems related to the security of the country and they are used as spyware. can go. He said that no one knows which application may contain spyware and it is necessary to follow the communication security guidelines issued by the security agencies.
He said that many countries develop applications, deploy servers at different locations and store data, which can be used by law enforcement agencies of those countries. This is the reason why the Modi government at the Center had banned about 100 apps of China in the year 2020.
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