New Delhi, May 7: Nearly three million data files are being stolen by Chinese hackers from across the globe on a daily basis. In view of the cyber threat, government sources said that all government offices have been asked to store secret files in standalone computers devoid of any external links and storage devices.

The step has been taken after frequent attempts by international hackers, specially from China, to penetrate computers of sensitive ministries like defence, external affairs, home affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office, the sources said.
The hacking attempts are being traced to four places in China, a source said, adding that government agencies have already started cleaning all the computers which Chinese hackers are suspected to have attacked.
Investigations by government agencies have found that hackers from China regularly try to penetrate computers used by top officials and take away files. “Secret files are now kept in computers which have no external links. Besides, no pen drive is allowed to be installed in such standalone computers,” a source said.
Government sources said that predominantly there are three ways through which hackers send viruses into a computer which allow files to be diverted to another destination. These include opening Chinese websites, pornographic sites and false email messages aimed at luring people to open an email through which the virus immediately enters a computer.
Former national security adviser M.K. Narayanan had said that his office and other government departments were targeted on December 15, 2009, the same date when Google reported cyber attacks originating from China.

Age Correspondent