Security in place to secure India’s nuclear power plants from cyber-attacks: Singh
Several measures have been taken to strengthen information security in administrative networks in nuclear power plants like, hardening of internet and administrative intranet connectivity, restriction on removable media, blocking of websites & IPs
NEW DELHI: Security arrangements are in place to secure India’s nuclear power plant systems from cyber-attack, said Union Minister of state for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh.
In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the minister said these security measures include authorisation, authentication & access control mechanisms, strict configuration control and surveillance.
Singh added that nuclear power plant systems are also isolated from Internet and are not accessible from administrative network. “Several measures have been taken to strengthen information security in administrative networks in nuclear power plants like, hardening of internet and administrative intranet connectivity, restriction on removable media, blocking of websites & IPs."
Speaking about the cyber-attack on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in September 2019, the minister said that investigations have been carried out by the Computer & Information Security Advisory Group (CISAG) – DAE along with the national agency, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
“The measures implemented based on their recommendations include physical separation of intranet & internet access, secure virtual browsing terminal for dedicated internet use, secured data transfer provisions requiring authentication are in place, independent security review prior to posting of new web applications and/or change in LAN / infrastructural architecture, constitution of a task force for oversight of information security posture, on IT systems in the organization, etc. and restricted usage of removable media," he added.
Malware was detected at state-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd’s (NPCIL) Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in September 2019. The malware was found in KKNPP administrative network.
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