BANGALORE, September 1, 2013
IT Dept. to install network firewalls at Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha
Well over a year since three MLAs were caught on camera watching porn in the House, the Department of Information Technology has decided to install network firewalls at the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha.
All connections, wired and wireless, will have firewalls that will specifically block any pornographic content, the department announced. This is aimed at preventing employees at the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha from downloading or streaming porn.
The move comes in the wake of reports on a secret Central Bureau of Investigation dossier to the Criminal Investigation Department that the kar.nic.in IP was used frequently by employees to view pornography. This is not the first such dossier to be sent about porn viewing on the Vidhana Soudha networks.
Minister for Information and Technology S.R. Patil told reporters on Saturday that it was unfortunate that a section of employees in “the seat of power” were abusing the facility. He said that when it was brought to his notice, he conducted meetings with senior officials to discuss ways to curb the menace. The firewall idea was an outcome of such meetings.
Mr. Patil said that this would be installed on computers in the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha in the first phase, and would later be extended to government offices in the district too. He added that other efforts undertaken by the department included initiatives to curtail all types of cyber crime.
Mr. Patil said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will shortly inaugurate wi-fi facility on M.G. Road and Brigade Road in Bangalore. Preparations were on to provide facility for free to the people. The facility would be restricted to three hours initially and the duration would be extended later.
As the tele-traffic was more on these two roads, extending the facility for long hours would lead to congestion, he said.
