Govt to reinforce cyber threat detection system

The government is planning to strengthen the capacity of the existing cyber threat detection and response system across the country to keep cyber threat at bay.

In this regard, the Post and Telecommunication Division has taken up a project titled “Cyber Threat Detection and Response Phase-2” and sent the project proposal to the Planning Commission for approval, a senior official of the Planning Ministry told The Business Post.

The project aims to block the sites which provide information against the country’s policies and which are threat to the country.

It also aims to install necessary equipment in all International Internet Gateways (IIGs) and National Internet Exchange (NIX) for increasing capacity to block sites as per the government directive.

The cost of the project is estimated at Tk 50 crore which will come from the government exchequer.

The Department of Telecommunications will implement the project by September 2023.

The project will help collect information of internet users’ history based on application, IP address and IIG data.

The main components of the project include installation of Large Type Service Gateway, Data Mediation Server, Short Term Collector Sever for Service, Gateway Management System, Traffic Management Licence, Bypass Switches, SEP for Service Gateway, Network Switches with SEP, 13 Aggregation Switches, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) and Managed Service for NOC.

Once implemented, it will help combat militancy and extremism. The project would also help reduce the cyber threats and crimes in the country and enforce ban on pornography. The law enforcement agencies can monitor internet activities of people round-the-clock through the project, according to the project proposal.

Besides, a team would monitor online traffic round the clock and all international internet gateways would be connected to this network.

The system would also identify users of virtual private networks (VPN).

A senior official of the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission said using internet has increased across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the demand of bandwidth has also increased at the same time, said the official.