Shillong, June 11: Delivering the message of Governor CH Vijayashankar during a state consultative workshop on strengthening cyber security frameworks for state data, the Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor on Thursday stressed that cybersecurity must be treated as a core governance concern.
Held at Lok Bhavan, the workshop brought together senior officials, CERT-In, NIC, law enforcement and state departments to chart Meghalaya’s cyber resilience strategy.
Reading the Governor’s address, HC Chaudhary said digital governance is now the backbone of public service delivery.
“Cybersecurity is no longer merely an information technology concern but a matter of governance, service continuity, and citizen trust,” he emphasized.
He pointed out that as Meghalaya pushes digital platforms for health, education, welfare, land records and financial transactions, protecting citizen data and critical infrastructure has become a national priority. “Cyber threats such as ransomware attacks, data breaches, phishing campaigns, insider threats, and advanced persistent threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated,” he noted.
Chaudhary urged departments to move beyond reactive measures and build proactive systems. “There is a need for a resilient cybersecurity framework that integrates security into every stage of digital governance,” he said.
The workshop also heard addresses from IT&C Commissioner & Secretary Pravin Bakshi, MeitY, Home (Police), NIC, SeMT Meghalaya and CERT-In.
Technical sessions covered the national threat landscape, incident response, and the Digital Personal Data Protection framework.
Breakout groups debated six key areas including risk-based security assessments, securing State Data Centres and SWAN, strengthening SOCs and CSIRTs, modernizing legacy systems, data privacy, and capacity building. Participants stressed continuous monitoring, appointing dedicated CISOs, and driving cybersecurity awareness among officials.
Recommendations from the six groups will feed into Meghalaya’s roadmap for a more secure and trusted digital ecosystem.
The workshop was organised by the IT&C Department, Govt of Meghalaya with technical support from NeGD, MeitY.
