Only one hacking in last three years: Antony

New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) India's defence establishment has recorded only one breach of security by hackers from outside in the last three years, parliament was informed Wednesday.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony made this written response to queries from members amidst regular security alerts that Indian defence establishment is under a constant attack by hackers, reportedly based in China.

"Only one instance of attempted hacking on computers belonging to defence sector has come to the notice in the past three years," Antony said in his reply.

There were intelligence reports in November 2011 about the probable compromise of computers of the Eastern Naval Command based in Visakhapatnam. However, none of these computers was found to be compromised, Antony said.

He also noted that the defence services have a robust defensive mechanism in place.

Citing from the Information Technology (Amendment) Act of 2008, Antony said its Section 70A envisaged setting up of a National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) in identified sectors.

"Steps have been initiated for notifying NCIIPC under the said Act," he added.