Can't check snooping software on foreign equipment: DRDO

India does not have the capability to check the presence of malwares or snooping virus in weapon systems acquired by the defence forces from foreign countries, DRDO said today.
"It is very difficult to access in an integrated system whether there is malware because we at first place we don't know what is there. Nobody is giving you the source code for all the equipment which is there.
"So that challenge will remain and we will have to see what can be done in such environment or what level of assessment can be done," DRDO chief Avinash Chander told a press conference here.

He was asked whether India has a capability to check for malware or snooping devices in military systems acquired by it from abroad such as American C-17 and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.
Asked whether such a scenario makes India's military equipment vulnerable to hacking, he said, "In today's world, you have to make sure that your critical systems are secure even if you are interfacing with the not so secure systems.
"The core is protected but the peripherals have to be used as they are. That technology is being developed."

On steps been taken by the defence research body to tackle the escalating cyber threats to defence communication equipment, Chander said, "We have launched our own programme to secure local area networks, and controlled networks.

"We are working on secure mobile systems and developing our own Avdhani processors so that we have total control. We have own routers and operating systems and analysis systems."
He said DRDO was working with many other agencies in the country to create a secure environment for controlled networks.