Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)

Category: Cybersecurity & Governance | GS Paper III

SEO Title: CERT-In: Functions, IT Act Section 70B, Cybersecurity Directions and Incident Reporting

UPSC Notes

CERT-In is India's national nodal agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents and coordinating information about cyber threats.

  • Establishment: 2004.

  • Ministry: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

  • Legal basis: Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, introduced through the 2008 amendment.

  • Core responsibilities: Cybersecurity alerts, vulnerability advisories, incident response and cyber drills.

  • 2022 Directions: Require reporting specified cyber incidents within six hours of noticing them or being informed of them.

  • Log retention: The directions include maintaining ICT logs for 180 days within Indian jurisdiction.

  • Service providers: The source notes record-keeping obligations for VPN and data-centre providers.

  • Cyber Swachhta Kendra: Supports botnet detection and malware cleaning.

  • Related bodies: NCIIPC addresses critical information infrastructure protection; the National Cyber Security Coordinator operates within the Prime Minister's Office framework.

Key Pointers for Prelims

  • CERT-In: National cybersecurity incident-response agency.

  • Legal provision: Section 70B, IT Act.

  • Six-hour incident reporting: A key feature of the 2022 Directions.

  • NCIIPC and CERT-In have related but distinct responsibilities.