Websites of 13 Goa government departments hacked: CM

The websites of 13 government departments in Goa were hacked and are now in the process of being restored, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said on Thursday.

In a written reply to a question in the assembly posed by independent member Vijai Sardesai, Parsekar said websites of 13 departments like the Captain of Ports, Commissioner of Labour, Directorate of Fisheries, Directorate of Agriculture, were hacked since the BJP-led coalition government came to power in 2012.

"Of all the websites, that of the Directorate of Accounts and Directorate of Fisheries have currently been shut down as the security audit of the websites has not yet been performed and the same would be made live once the website audit is carried out and becomes free from vulnerabilities," Parsekar said.

Twelve cabinet ministers oversee the affairs of nearly 110 government departments.

The chief minister said technology experts have identified the problem -- a vulnerability in the websites' content management system -- and that a new server network was being worked on using latest technologies.

"The hacked websites were cleared of vulnerabilities and re-deployed on the newly configured web server," Parsekar said.