Last week, Chief Minister of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu unveiled the Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) in the capital region of Amaravati. The center is aimed at averting threats looming over the region’s cyber space. “The Center will combat cyber security threats and provide real time intelligence sharing and threat analysis to all state government departments and entities,” Naidu said in a statement. “At the heart of the security operations center (SOC), is a blended security analytics platform that ingests, correlates and analyses massive amounts of data. The state has also roped in Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) as cybersecurity consultants to the Government in helping the state frame and adopt best-in-breed practices and frameworks in this domain.”
Information Technology firm, Tech Mahindra, will operate the SOC. “The state government is already using vast data, drones and implementing real time governance to serve the people of AP. He felt the CSOC would be very useful to face the cyber threats posed to the state and the government,” stated a report in The Hans India, a regional daily.
The State also hosted the Andhra Pradesh Cybersecurity Summit at its Fintech Valley in Vizag which aims at providing a platform for eminent infosec experts to share strategies and solutions to combat the growing cyber threats. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mastercard to establish best practices.
J A Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary & IT Advisor to the Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh; Ravi Aurora, Executive Director, Community Relations and Public Policy, Mastercard; and Nara Lokesh, Minister for IT, were part of the summit which convened more than 450 delegates.
“Andhra Pradesh has been a pioneer in implementing digital solutions for delivery of public services and creating a global fintech ecosystem. Therefore, cybersecurity for individuals and businesses is a high priority for the Government of Andhra Pradesh. We believe that the Andhra Pradesh Cybersecurity Summit, in partnership with Mastercard, was an important step towards implementing the best practices in the field of cybersecurity in the state,” said Nara Lokesh, while speaking at the summit.
Andhra Pradesh has been setting an example for other states in the country with their approach toward remediation of threats and ensuring security in the information security space. Apart from conducting regular cybersecurity conferences and setting up operation centers, the state has embarked on novel techniques to address cyber frauds and privacy-related concerns.
“The government is proposing to have AP CODE, which is a secured platform, which will arrest any misuse of data and would like to bring this initiative through an enactment by state legislation. The government has set up new state-of-the-art State Data Centre (SDC), central repository of the state, online delivery of services, citizen information portal, state intranet portal, remote management and service integration, and disaster recovery,” said J A Chowdary, in an earlier interview with CISO MAG. “ePragati is the nodal agency to implement blockchain initiatives across departments in association with blockchain technology companies in AP and agency is taking every step in protecting the interests of common man through securing various digital assets.”
