Data breach at ICAR hits key recruitment, agricultural research projects: Report
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) suffered a major data breach earlier this year that led to the loss of “crucial data” related to recruitment and key research initiatives, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
The breach reportedly occurred in April and affected affected ICAR’s website, it server in Delhi, along with its replication server at the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad.
The affected data reportedly includes records related to recruitment processes—from Technical Officers to Deputy Director Generals—as well as projects and related information submitted by scientists and preserved in repositories.
In response to the breach, ICAR constituted a six-member committee earlier this month to assess the extent of the damage and recommend steps to prevent such incidents in the future. The panel has been tasked with submitting its report by July 31. It has also been asked to submit recommendations regarding the "non-functionality" of the Data Centre (DC) and Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC), as per documents that The Indian Express said it had reviewed.
“A few months back, there was some hacking of our website. Presently, everything is normal. The Ministry has constituted a committee in a follow-up of our data policy. That is a continuous process,” TIE quoted M.L. Jat, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, and Director General of ICAR, as saying.
However, a senior scientist quoted in the report highlighted that their email communication system is not functioning, and crucial data related to recruitment, finances, scientists, research projects, and administrative work has vanished from both the main server and the replication server.
Several ICAR scientists from Lucknow, Karnal, Hyderabad, Pune, and Delhi stated that there were persistent 'problems on the portal' and that they had raised the issue multiple times, added the report.
A senior official from Council’s Knowledge Management division also confirmed that while the main website (icar.org.in) was restored in mid-May, another website (icar.gov.in) remains inaccessible.
The data breach primarily impacted three critical institutions under ICAR: Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI), and NAARM, according to the sources quoted by the newspaper.
The security breach was reportedly brought up during the Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society, held in Delhi on July 7 and chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Following this, Chouhan directed the formation of a six-member committee, to be headed by Dr. D.K. Yadava, DDG (Crop Sciences), ICAR.
One member of the probe committee reportedly stated that they are yet to convene a meeting due to prior commitments but plan to do so soon.
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Man arrested for for raping mute woman in Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur (PTI): One person was arrested on the charge of raping a 30-year-old woman with speech impairment in Jamshedpur, a police officer said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in the Azadnagar police station area of the city, and a case in this regard was registered based on the statement of the victim's brother on Monday.
The victim had gone to fetch water from the premises of a company on Monday evening. When she did not return even after a considerable time, family members went out in search of her and caught the accused red-handed, police said.
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The accused was a caretaker of the company.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Patamda) Bachandeo Kujjur said due to scarcity of water in the area, the victim used to fetch water from the premises of the company.
