Cybersecurity workshop held for senior officers in Srinagar

The Department of Information Technology conducted a two-day state-level workshop titled, CCMP Workshop and Cybersecurity Exercise, at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.

Officials said the workshop was conducted in collaboration with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The programme held on June 16 and 17 was aimed at enhancing cyber resilience across departments of the Union Territory by equipping senior officers, including administrative secretaries, chief information security officers (CISOs)/information security officers (ISOs) and nodal officers from various government departments, with essential cybersecurity knowledge and hands-on crisis response planning.

Satish Sharma, Minister of Information Technology, emphasised the critical importance of cybersecurity in the current digital governance landscape and lauded the initiative as a key milestone towards ensuring secure and reliable citizen services delivery.

Piyush Singla, JK’s Secretary, IT Department, encouraged the participants to commit to building resilient systems and a cyber-aware workforce to safeguard citizens and institutions.

An official release said the sessions included interactive presentations, policy insights and hands-on exercises to promote practical understanding of cybersecurity frameworks and institutional preparedness. Participants actively engaged in discussions around cyber threat landscapes and departmental response strategies.

Dr Sanjay Bahl, Director General, CERT-In, stressed on the need to shift from reactive cybersecurity to proactive cyber resilience, focusing on rapid recovery while maintaining essential operations during cyber crisis. He highlighted the importance of implementing the Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP), regular training, exercises, drills and bringing organisations on board to various CERT-In initiatives.

The officials said the initiative aligns with the national mission of 'Digital India' and addresses the growing need for secure digital infrastructure in light of recent cyber incidents. It also supports the broader goal of creating a digitally empowered administration and improving citizen trust in the government IT systems.