Says Howard A. Schmidt, chief security officer of Microsoft who had a series of meetings with officials last fortnight: "India, along with a number of Asian nations, needs to have a better understanding of cyber security, especially for educational, nuclear and atomic institutions because of their sensitive nature."
Senior home ministry officials admitted that hackers have repeatedly defaced the sites of the Trombay-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Kalpakkam-based Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). "IGCAR's been hacked as many as seven times this year," sources told Outlook. "This means the ISI has accessed information about highly sensitive data relating to India's nuclear test management."