Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The formation of the State Computer Security Incident Response Operation Centre (CSIRT) was approved through the state cabinet decision taken on July 16, 2023. But till date, only director had been appointed. The remaining posts have still not been filled. The director of CSIRT, KL Meena, told Free Press that the recruitment process for the agency was underway and posts will be filled shortly.

The CSIRT formation will be done on the lines of Central Agency Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Madhya Pradesh is probably, the first state in the country to have a hi-tech cyber security agency of its own.

The agency will keep an eye on state government departments to ensure that they do not compromise with cyber security norms. It will protect government’s secured networks from ransomware, other cyber attacks and solve cyber-security related issues.

The State Cyber Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) is an autonomous body, headed by a Level-16 scientist, who has director. It has technically competent team of experts, scientists and engineers.

The state cabinet had approved setting up of a Security Operations Centre for security of applications/data under State Data Centre at Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation.

Detailed instructions were given for cyber security of software applications operated, maintained by departments and data related to them in State Data Centre. Security Operations Centre will be operated on Managed Security Service Provider model, officials said.

Govt reviews cyber attack

On Tuesday, a review meeting was held at Mantralaya chaired by ACS, home, Rajesh Rajora to review the cyber security arrangements for government websites. The appointment related issues at CSIRT were also discussed.

Recently, malware attack was reported in the urban development department. The incident gave a wakeup call to the government and the meeting was called to review the cyber security arrangements. The officials of nine departments participated in the meeting. The officials had brought the details of cyber attack from January 1 to December 31, 202