Cabinet nod for telecom testing and security centre

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the establishment of a telecom testing and security certification centre, as part of the telecom security policy.

The government has already allocated Rs 50 crore for setting up the centre, which will seek to ensure service providers only induct “safe to network” elements. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has been asked to work on it.

The centre will be responsible for development of processes, systems attack prevention tools, security standards and certification of security testing labs, according to a recent discussion of CCS. The centre will require 100 people over the next two to four years.

The allocated fund is expected to be used over the next two to three years. The security centre is expected to generate its own revenue through fees on certification of labs and charges for security testing equipment.

The CCS discussion also mentioned the proposed Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring, to be set up at an investment of Rs 400 crore, would require 182 people over the next two to four years. CCS approved the project in June 2011 and the government has already allocated the funds. The centre will be set up by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) with the help of the Department of Telecommunications.

CCS has also noted that classified government communication needs a “much higher” level of security than public communication and a separate communication network needs to be established. The project will be implemented by state-owned telecom operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam or Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. For implementation of the telecom security policy, the government has already allocated about Rs 450 crore and 500 people have already been approved for different positions. In the long run, about 1,300 people will be required to implement various features of the policy.

The government currently earns about Rs 400 crore from penalties for non-compliance with policy terms. This income is sufficient to pay the wages of about Rs 40 crore per annum, according to the CCS discussion.