Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Major security review of staff access, PCs

- HT Correspond­ent letters@hindustant­imes.com

THE PRESENT ACCESS CONTROL MECHANISM IN MINISTRIES AND DEPARTMENT­S

WILL UNDERGO CHANGES, ELECTRONIC SURVEILLAN­CE WILL BE UPGRADED TO ENSURE A ‘LEAK-PROOF’ SYSTEM

NEW DELHI: The government will conduct a full security audit of all official computers and security vetting of staff of major ministries and department­s in the wake of the corporate espionage scandal, sources said.

Also on the anvil is a longpendin­g review of the Official Secrets Act in the age of the Right to Informatio­n Act.

“The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting of secretarie­s convened by cabinet secretary Ajit Seth on Tuesday,” said a senior government official requesting anonymity.

The official added that besides the security audit of all official computers, it has also been decided that each ministry and department will appoint a joint secretary-level officer as the department­al security officer to ensure foolproof security of official documents and computers.

The top officials also decided that the present access control mechanism in the ministries and department­s will undergo sweeping changes while electronic surveillan­ce will be upgraded to ensure a “leak-proof ” system. The measures include strengthen­ing CCTV coverage of all key ministries. The manual of department­al security instructio­ns prepared by the home ministry will also be issued to each ministry and department, sources said.

The decisions of the high-level meeting were part of the government’s move to tighten security of ministries and department­s and to stop leakage of documents and informatio­n.

HT had reported on February 21 that following the corporate espionage scandal, the role of the Intelligen­ce Bureau would be enhanced in the security structure of all key ministries.

The IB has initiated the process of sending officers to all key ministries to coordinate with the security staff to improve the security system.

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