70% of govt websites lack security protocols, prone to cyber attacks

PANAJI
Beware! Next time you log into a government website searching for information related to any government department, remember that they are not secured and prone to cyber hacking.

While on one hand, the Pramod Sawant-led government speaks about ‘ease of doing businesses’ or promoting ‘digital working’, it is interesting to note that more than 70 per cent of the government websites including that of educational institutions like Goa University, are considered “not secure”.

As per the information provided by the Department of Information and Technology, of the total 62 government websites, 45 departments have not renewed their Security Audit of their website, while another 17 website renewals are under process since over the last one year. Interestingly, these 62 department websites are not even embedded with SSL (Security Protocol that provides Privacy, Authentication and Integrity to Internet Communication).

As a result, one can see warnings on the site page saying the “website is not secure and your personal information can be compromised by attackers”. Sources in IT said that it is better to stay away from these websites even though it has information released by the government.

The latest news of the Electricity Department website getting hacked is one such warning. The department website is neither embedded with SSL or has got their Security Audit renewed.

Apart from the Electricity Department, the other public service oriented websites that are vulnerable to cyber-attack are Commercial Taxes, Women and Child Development, Economic Development Corporation, panchayats, etc.

Interestingly, the Goa police department website itself is not secured. The educational institutions that include are government colleges – Pernem, Margao and Sanquelim, Goa University and Institute of Nursing Education.

On the other hand, the departments like Captain of Ports, Directorate of Accounts, Directorate of Social Welfare, Fisheries, FDA, Entertainment Society of Goa, Goa Waste Management, etc are amongst those 17, who have initiated a process to renew their Security Audit.

“We have sent several reminders to the department about the renewals but no information is provided. There are chances that the information available on the websites can be hacked and altered so that people will read incorrect information on government websites. It is always safe for people not to proceed into such insecure websites,” sources said.