Railway Minister reveals 8.88 billion bot attacks on ticket bookings in six months
GS3Economy · S&T · Environment · Security· Cyber security· Prelims + Mains·
Why in news
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed that 57.74% of online ticket booking requests in a six-month period were identified as bot attacks, necessitating enhanced cybersecurity measures.
Background
Indian Railways received 15.38 billion online ticket booking requests over six months. Out of these, 8.88 billion requests were flagged as bot-driven. Security measures include Aadhaar authentication for Tatkal tickets and physical safeguards at the Chanakyapuri data center.
Facts for Prelims
- Fact8.88 billion bot attacks were flagged out of 15.38 billion total requests in a six-month period.
- S&TAadhaar authentication is being utilized as a security measure for Tatkal ticket bookings.
- PlaceThe dedicated data center for Indian Railways is located in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
For Mains
Q. Discuss the challenges posed by automated bot attacks on public infrastructure and suggest measures to secure digital public services against cyber-fraud.
Dimensions to cover in your answer
- Infrastructure vulnerability: High-volume automated requests overwhelming server capacity and creating denial-of-service risks.
- Identity verification: Balancing seamless user experience with robust Aadhaar-linked authentication to prevent bulk-booking fraud.
- Data sovereignty: Ensuring physical and logical security of centralized data centers against sophisticated state and non-state cyber actors.
Keywords: Cybersecurity · Botnets · Digital Infrastructure · Identity Authentication · Data Integrity
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