UPSC Articles
The National Cyber Coordination Centre issues guidelines against Zoom app
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Cybersecurity
In News:
- The National Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issued a set of guidelines for safe usage of Zoom – a web based video conferencing tool.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an advisory that the Zoom is not a safe platform.
Key takeaways:
- USA based ZOOM video communication has seen an exponential rise in usage in India as office-goers remain at home owing to the present lockdown.
- The software used in the online platform is said to be made in China and some calls were being routed through servers in China.
Important value additions:
The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC)
- The NCCC was developed in 2017.
- It is an operational cybersecurity and e-surveillance agency in India.
- It is intended to screen communication metadata (little snippets of information hidden inside each communication) and co-ordinate the intelligence gathering activities of other agencies.
- Some have expressed concern that the body could encroach on Indian citizens’ privacy and civil-liberties, given the lack of explicit privacy laws in the country.
- Components of the NCCC include:
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- a cybercrime prevention strategy,
- cybercrime investigation training and
- review of outdated laws.
- Indian and U.S. intelligence agencies are also working together to curb misuse of social media platforms in the virtual world by terror groups
Zoom
- It is a web-based video conferencing tool with a local, desktop client and a mobile app that allows users to meet online, with or without video.
