Govt Webpage Security

It is a commendable initiative on the part of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) to make all the government bodies’ websites ultra-secure, cost-effective and uniform. The government has initiated this process considering the frequent hacking or abusing of the important websites. As suggested by the OPMCM, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) has prepared a high-tech and ultra-secure template for developing websites of all the government agencies.

The concerned agencies may bring this consistent template into their use as per their convenience and in a cost-effective manner. With the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), hackers and others involved in cybercrimes are found abusing websites. So, there are always possibilities of essential websites being hacked or abused. Just one month ago, many government websites, including the Office of the Prime Minister and the President's Office, were hacked by individuals from unknown locations, leading to an obstruction of accessibility to those websites for several hours. 

The websites indicated numerous server failure messages after having been inaccessible. It was a deliberate attack on websites containing the government's vital information.  The hacking was really a matter of serious concern. The National Information Technology Centre (NITC), which is the main body responsible for safeguarding the government domain, had a tough time to tackle that serious problem. It may also be relevant to recall another recent server failure of the website belonging to the Department of Immigration.

As this important public agency’s server was recorded down repeatedly, a number of international flights were disrupted at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). With that incident, thousands of passengers had to go through a lot of inconvenience. With that unexpected server failure, many airlines also suffered a huge loss as their flights were delayed by several hours. Such incidents really demand that the government take necessary steps to protect the public agencies’ websites urgently.

According to a news report published in this daily on Monday, the process of developing every government body’s website in the same layout and standard has reached its final stage. Since most websites of different public offices still possess old source code, outmoded technology and templates, they are at higher risk from the cyber-security perspective. Currently, the private sector has been designing websites for public offices. There has been a practice of outsourcing such websites from the private sector.

This has raised security as well as quality concerns.  In view of this situation, the OPMCM has shown its interest in preparing websites for the public offices in the same format and standards in order to maintain uniformity and ensure security.  Currently, the authorities from the NITC and the OPMCM have continued consulting the website developers to bring out newer and updated template.

The government needs to spend a huge amount of money on creating websites for its different bodies and departments by hiring related technicians. When the webpages are developed in the same design and standards, the responsible authorities and technicians may find security inspections and updating the system easier in the future. The newly-developed template is being tested and retested internally at the NITC. Efforts are also underway to make government websites more user-friendly.

The government has already formed a high-level committee to study cyber security related issues in a comprehensive manner. To ensure security of public data, the government is also planning to manage all the local-level data using its own software.