Personal computers 'weak link' in cyber security: NTRO

Personal computers and other private users of data are "weak links" when it comes to implementing cyber security norms in the country and agencies working in this domain are trying to plug this "critical" area, National Technical Research Organisation said on Wednesday.

Chief of NTRO Alhad G Apte at a seminar here said computer and cyberspace applications should be made convenient for the users and "just putting restrictions" on the consumer could prove to be counter-productive as the individual may then skip firewall mechanisms and inadvertently expose himself/herself to hacking like attacks.

"The users who use personal computers...This is a weak link...We have to focus on this. The users of PCs are unaware as they are using the (computer) system for their own work but this is also opening a gate for compromise (of personal data)," Apte said while delivering the theme address on 'protecting India's critical cyber security infrastructure' organised under the banner of a two-day 'Secure Cities 2013' conference.

He said that the cyber threat, hence, directly reaches inside the computer system and this is a "critical area as how to protect client machines (from spam, malware and hacking attacks."

The NTRO is the country's premier scientific and intelligence gathering body and is one the largest stakeholders in the cyber security protection and defence mechanism of India.