The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is a national institution and the nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents in India, operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It was formally established under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, to address the growing problem of cybersecurity threats in the Indian cyber community. CERT-In has been operational since January 2004.
The legal basis for its existence and functions is Section 70B of the IT Act, 2000. This section designates CERT-In as the national agency for incident response, a designation that was incorporated through the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008. Its mechanism, detailed in Section 70B(4), involves the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information on cyber incidents, issuing forecasts and alerts, and coordinating emergency response activities. CERT-In is empowered to seek information from and issue binding directions to service providers, intermediaries, data centers, and body corporate to carry out its functions. Failure to comply with these directions can lead to disciplinary action under sub-section (6) of Section 70B.
A significant recent change occurred with the directive issued on 28 April 2022, which mandates that all covered entities must report cyber incidents to CERT-In within six hours of noticing a breach. This directive also requires these entities to maintain logs of all their Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems for a rolling period of 180 days. CERT-In connects directly to the overarching legal framework of the IT Act, 2000, and coordinates with law enforcement agencies and international Computer Emergency Response Teams.