A three-member committee by the Department of Information & Technology (DoI&T), formed as a result of the recent cyber-attack on 58 governmental sites, made fresh recommendations to safeguard the government’s digital presence.

The Committee headed by the DoI&T Director General Birendra Kumar Mishra recommended that all the websites hosted by public offices should undergo vulnerability assessment and get its clearance before going live.

Based on its study, the Committee concluded that the government websites that were hacked did not comply with the related parameters set in 2011.

In this regard, the Committee suggested all the government offices to have a dedicated system administrator. These officials should monitor the cyberspace on a daily basis and send related reports to the senior officials.

The Committee also suggested annual audit of websites. “We are capable of auditing it as soon as the ministry gives a go-ahead,” said Mishra.

Computer Technicians Need Training, Says Official

In the light of the increasing technology-related threats, the Committee also recommended annual training sessions for computer technicians. It also noted that capacity of the National Information Technology Centre should be upgraded in terms of human resource and equipment.

Meanwhile speaking on the recent cyber-attack, an official from the Ministry of Science & Technology said, “There isn’t uniformity. Websites have been developed haphazardly, hiring amateur developers and relatives of officials by flouting security issues.”

Its noteworthy that around 58 government websites including the sites hosted by the Ministry of Defense and the Nepal Law Commission, among others were hacked in a recent cyber-attack by a hacker group called ‘Paradox Cyber Ghost’.

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In a recent cyber-attack on government systems, around 58 government websites, including Ministry of Defense, Office of the Auditor General and Nepal Law Commission witnessed a cyber-attack by a group of hackers.

While some of the sites that were said to have been hacked were working until Monday evening, many of them remained suspended.

The group, ‘Paradox Cyber Ghost’ posted on Facebook a list of government websites including Ministry of Defense, Office of the Auditor General and Nepal Law Commission.

In a post-related conversation, it claimed that the act was just a vulnerability test and not for any other purpose.

“We hacked all your sites in three minutes,” the hacker’s group said, thus exposing the governmental sites’ vulnerability to cyber-attacks. To a question on why government sites were targeted, the group replied, “Government sites are more popular among hackers”.

Nothing to Worry, Says Official

“We have concluded that such activities have been recurring as the government websites lack uniformity and are handled in a haphazard manner. But there is no need to worry. This, however, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take initiatives to prevent such cyberattacks,” said Ram Adhar Shah, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Shah noted that the chances of stealing government secrets are unlikely as almost all the government agencies put public notices, acts & policies and programmes on their websites.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has already formed a three-member committee under Birendra Kumar Mishra, director general of the Department of Information Technology to investigate the matter.

Surprisingly, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police was unaware of the issue.

According to Binod Dhakal, President of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) Federation, the state’s apathetic attitude towards the Information and Communication (IT) sector resulted in the issue.

It is noteworthy that this is not first such instance where government agencies are targeted. The Department of Passport site was hacked in the last month and the official site of the President of Nepal also witnessed a similar attack in July 2015.

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