The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) suffered a major data breach in April which led to the loss of “crucial data” including details on recruitment and research projects, The Indian Express has reported.
The report added that ICAR has formed a six-member committee this month to look into why the Data Centre (DC) and Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC) stopped working. The committee has been asked to give suggestions on how to improve data security and make sure such incidents don’t happen again. One of the members told this newspaper that the committee has not held its first meeting yet, even though it has been asked to submit its report by July 31.
What did ICAR lose in data breach?
According to IE, the ICAR’s website was hacked, which impacted its Delhi servers and the replication server at the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad.
The report noted that data had gone missing covering recruitment details for roles from Technical Officers up to Deputy Directors General (DDG), along with job applications collected last year. It also included information on numerous projects, related submissions by scientists stored in online repositories, and e-mail correspondence.
Crucial e-mail communications missing
A senior scientist at the ICAR revealed to media sources that not only were the email systems affected, but “crucial data of recruitment, finances, scientists, research projects, and administrative work has vanished from the server”.
Majorly affected data includes: Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) and National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), all of which function under ICAR.
Reports suggested that the security breach was raised during the Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society, chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in Delhi on July 7. Following this, Chouhan directed the formation of a six-member committee to be headed by Dr. D.K. Yadava, DDG (Crop Sciences), ICAR.
Being India’s apex research organisation, ICAR contributes to agricultural research, education, and other extension activities. While normal function has been restored now, detailed information will be made available only after the committee submits the report on July 31.