Bengaluru: Cyber hacker concern for government portals: CMS-4.0 implementation for security

Bengaluru, Nov. 18: Government department portals in the state are not being damaged to a large extent by cyber hackers as they have adopted Content Management System-4. Hence, it has been decided to upgrade government department portals.

The Central Department of e-Governance has taken up the task of upgrading more than 1,200 existing government portals. The web portal division of the e-Governance Center comes under the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR e-Governance).

The state has more than 72 major departments, each department having a separate web portal with multiple websites under it. Currently, about 600 portals have been upgraded, while the rest are at various stages of upgrading. Officials of the e-Governance Department said that it will take time to cover all 1,200 portals under CMS v4.0 version.

There is a smooth transition from the existing version to the upgraded version. Thus, training is being given to the staff managing the websites and portals, sources said. The new version has multi-level security measures and features and is less susceptible to virus attacks, sources said.

"In addition to the OTP-verified system, we also have QR code verification, which makes it difficult for hackers to target our websites," an official said.

There have been instances of government portals being hacked in the past. Earlier this year, the Cauvery 2.0 app portal managed by the Karnataka Stamps and Registration Department was attacked by a cyber attack. It affected citizen services like property registration, record services and downloading of Encumbrance Certificates (ECs). Every year, an average of 50-60 state and central government websites are hacked across the country.

In Karnataka, we wanted to make the websites more secure, sources said. The new system has introduced many changes and security features in these websites. Websites should not only be attractive, but also user-friendly, which is what we are doing, sources said.

CMS-4 is a good start, but it will take a long time to implement it. Since security is the key factor, it is necessary to wait," he said. Desai, co-founder and CEO of Sequeretech and a cybersecurity expert, said:

Security requires constant updating and testing. If testing is inadequate, problems arise. Right now, the work is half done. Those implementing it should make it harder for hackers, he said.