Take steps to check contamination of govt websites: HC to state

MUMBAI: Bombay HC urged Maharashtra to act swiftly against malware redirecting users from government sites to betting platforms, following a PIL by Ruzbeh Raja.

MUMBAI: Observing that contamination of government websites with malicious programming codes that redirect users to betting sites was a serious issue, the Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state to ensure that preventive measures are put in place at the earliest to avoid cyber-attack on government websites.

Take steps to check contamination of govt websites: HC to state

The court also asked the Maharashtra cyber police to consider suggestions made by petitioner Ruzbeh Dossabhoy Raja, whose public interest litigation (PIL) highlighted the issue.

Raja, an information technology consultant and visiting law professor at the University of Mumbai, had filed the PIL on February 5, after discovering malware on the government websites.

While operating the Mumbai police website on January 21, Raja was redirected to another website named rslot6.com, which opened a list of online betting options. Later, on January 25, he found several other official government websites showing similar contamination, leading users to rslot6.com.

In his PIL, Raja highlighted the inadequate monitoring of the government cyber infrastructure, while listing 20 government department websites, which are contaminated with malicious programming code. He alleged that the code redirects the users to betting websites to collect their personal information.

Noting that Raja is well conversant with the functions of information technology, internet, and malware attacks, a division bench of justice Alok Aradhe and justice Bharati Dangre, found him well-suited to issue suggestions to the competent authorities in their effort to prevent cyber-attacks. “The competent authorities shall take effective measures to ensure such attacks are prevented,” it said.

While speaking to Hindustan Times, Raja said, “I have done some deeper study on the possible origin of the attack, which will be shared with the competent authorities for the purpose of their investigation. There is a list of about 50 Maharasthra government domains which are compromised. Earlier I had shared a list of 21; as of today, I have added 27 more to the list.”