According to an official release issued on Sunday, there has been no data breach in the government’s email system, which is operated by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
While denying a report stating that data breaches in organizations such as Air India, BigBasket, and Domino’s had exposed email accounts and passwords of NIC emails to hackers, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT stated that the email system is “totally safe and secure”. The release stated “In view of this, it is important to clarify that…there has been no cyber breach into the email system of the Government of India maintained by the NIC. The email system is totally safe and secure,”
It also stated that unless government users enrolled on these portals using their official email address and used the same password as in their email account, cybersecurity breaches on external portals may not affect users of government email services.
It said “NIC Email system has put in place several security measures such as two-factor authentication and change of password in 90 days. Further, any change of password in NIC Email requires mobile OTP and if the mobile OTP is incorrect then change of password will not be possible,” and added that any phishing attempt utilizing that email will be mitigated by NIC.
The NIC also conducts user awareness campaigns on a regular basis and keeps users informed about potential risks and safety protocols, according to the release statement.