SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo has mandated the IT Department of Jammu and Kashmir to ensure the swift revival of all government websites and digital applications currently offline due to pending security audits, while seeking progress reports every three days to monitor the restoration.
Chairing a high-level meeting at the Civil Secretariat, Dulloo underlined the critical importance of cyber security and directed that no delay will be tolerated in restoring public-facing digital assets. The review meeting was attended by all administrative secretaries, Inspector General Crime, Commissioner JMC and SMC, NIC officials, and other senior officers.
The Chief Secretary instructed the Information Technology Department and NIC to initiate immediate restoration of websites in strict compliance with security standards, reiterating that even shutdowns for audit purposes should not result in prolonged digital service disruptions.
“To ensure momentum and transparency, departments must submit compliance reports every Monday and Thursday on restoration progress,” Dulloo directed. A total of 110 websites are currently under various stages of audit, with 45 nearing readiness for relaunch, it was revealed.
He further ordered a strict restriction on the use of private email IDs for official communication, emphasising the exclusive use of authorised government emails to safeguard sensitive data. He stressed that government data security was “non-negotiable.”
The Chief Secretary also directed that mini data centres operated by departments such as JPDCL, KPDCL, and SICOP be migrated to secure, centralised infrastructure to strengthen data integrity and resilience.
IT Secretary Dr. Piyush Singla briefed the meeting on recent initiatives, including a two-day cybersecurity workshop attended by 250 officers. He added that Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) or Information Security Officers (ISOs) have been nominated in each department to oversee IT security.
So far, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) has been deployed on 4,011 devices, while Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) has covered 1,617 devices, bolstering endpoint safety across government departments.
Technical defences including VPN restrictions, geo-fencing, port security, and reinforced firewall protocols have also been introduced to guard against cyber threats.
