India's 'digital' power system to undergo countrywide cyber security audit

India’s power distribution and generation system, which is being digitised by the government, is set to see a countrywide cyber security audit so that hacking in state grids and plants can be prevented.

It was last week that state energy ministers held a conference piloted by Union power minister Piyush Goyal. All the participants then had agreed to the regular audits of their power systems. These audits would be done by agencies empanelled by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), government's cyber warrior belonging to the Department of Information Technology.

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Other than audits, the states had also agreed to conduct mock drills simulating disasters and hackings so that they can test their preparation for reviving downed systems.

A chief information security officer was also agreed to be nominated by the states, which indicates that the participants acknowledge cyber threats and the need to take them seriously.