NICeMail Security: Proactive Protection Against Cyber Threats
The official email accounts of the government are much prone to cyber-attacks such as phishing, spoofing, etc. When a user downloads an attachment that has a malware or clicks on phishing link, the user account credentials along with the data gets compromised
The data once compromised can lead to data leak putting the sensitive and critical data at the risk of unintended exposure.
To prevent such incidents, the NIC eMail Security Operations Centre (SOC) pro-actively monitor the network traffic and user sessions. When an anomaly is detected, our SOC systems automatically flag the account and perform containment actions to prevent further compromise of data.
Impact of Compromise on National Integrity
Being involved in a data breach involving an official @gov.in or @nic.in account has immediate implications beyond personal security. Since government systems house Sensitive and Critical Data (SCD), any credential exposure presents an acute risk to national interests.
- Unauthorized Disclosure: Leakage of confidential policy documents, inter-departmental communications, or privileged records.
- Espionage & Sabotage: Providing foreign adversaries with a foothold for long-term intelligence gathering and potential disruption of critical infrastructure.
- Policy & Regulatory Violations: Breach of mandatory security protocols and data handling standards, leading to compliance failures.
The primary objective of this utility is to empower government personnel to act swiftly and mitigate these severe, organizational-level risks.
Financial Loss
Hackers can use the stolen data to potentially apply for credit cards, medical benefits, and lodge your tax returns.
Identity Theft
A more severe data breach can lead to identity theft. Hackers can utilise information found through data breaches to open bank accounts, set up utilities and tarnish your credit report.
Compromised Public Image
Hackers can also use this sensitive data to trick you into thinking they have videos and images of you in a compromising position, requesting payment to stop the content being uploaded.
How to create a strong password?
The key to your online security is to have a strong password, but the challenge is to create distinct passwords that reduce your risk of exposure to cyber attacks. When it comes to creating a strong password, there are several aspects to keep in mind.
Make It Long
This is the most critical factor when generating a new password. The longer the better, always try and create a password that is at least 15 characters long.
Mixed Characters
The more you mix characters, the tougher it is for hacking software to guess your password. Use a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters to make your password harder to crack.
What should you avoid when creating a password?
Memorable Keyboard Paths
Do not use sequential keyboard paths such as (qwerty, or asdfgh). These sequential passwords make it very easy for hacking software to decode your password.
Personal Information
Avoid using information that may be easily available. Information such as your date of birth, first and last names, children or pet names and phone numbers.
Common Passwords
Passwords such as 12345, password, abc123, and iloveyou are more common than you think. Avoid using passwords like the ones previously mentioned as they can be easy to decode.