Amid escalating cyber threats to India’s rapidly digitising urban infrastructure, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan has directed all state and city administrations to appoint a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for every municipality. Speaking at a high-level meeting on cybersecurity preparedness in New Delhi, Mohan warned that cities can no longer rely solely on outside consultants; they need in-house expertise to defend critical data and smart-city systems.
He urged local bodies to carry out regular security audits, build specialised cyber teams, and cultivate a culture of “constant cyber vigilance.” Officials from the electronics, IT, and urban-affairs ministries, the Intelligence Bureau, UIDAI, and several state governments attended the briefing.
The Home Secretary’s call dovetails with plans from the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to sustain the 100 smart cities’ command-and-control centres, which manage traffic, utilities, and public-safety networks. By institutionalizing CISOs, the government aims to harden municipal defenses against ransomware, IoT breaches, and other digital attacks that could disrupt essential services.
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