Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday asked Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma to check the veracity of reports that computers of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were hacked by Chinese hackers. However, DRDO denied the report and said there was no breach of security.
Reports suggested that a Hyderabad-based laboratory of DRDO was the target of hackers and some sensitive information about missiles could have been hacked, besides some classified documents of Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS).
Hacking was detected by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) in the first week of March and hacking was traced to some servers in Guangdong province of China, reports said.
When asked about the reported hacking, Antony said, “Intelligence agencies are investigating the matter at this stage and I do not want to say anything else.” DRDO said, “With reference to the reports circulating in certain sections of the media, it is stated that as per available information, no incidence of breach of security of DRDO’s computers has come to notice. Appropriate measures are in place for safety and security of computer systems.”
Given the threat posed by hackers, the Defence Ministry has taken several steps to stop the hacking of sensitive information and recently, the Navy took action against some of its officers in the Eastern Command after their networks were hacked as they did not follow the standard operating procedures.