Shilpa Harikumar 2nd November 2020
National- The Indian Army launched a secured messaging application platform named 'Secure Application for the Internet' (SAI) on Thursday, in accordance with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Missionannounced in July by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(Sources- Republic World)
Republic World reported that the Ministry of Defence stated that, “The model is similar to commercially available messaging applications like WhatsApp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS and utilises end-to-end encryption messaging protocol”. According to the issued statement, the application has been vetted by CERT-in empanelled auditor and the Army Cyber Group.The mobile application for Android will support end-to-end secure voice, text and video calling services. There are security features in place with local in-house servers and coding which can be tweaked as per necessary requirements. Plans to file for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), host the infrastructure on NIC and launchthe app on iOS platform are in the works—noted the government.
The new app development puts the nation’s safety concerns to rest, while also falling in line with the Prime Minister’s recent initiative. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge launched on July 4 aims to motivate start-ups and tech communities to develop apps solely ‘Made in India’. It focuses on two aspects – promoting already existing apps and designing new apps to lead the tech industry worldwide. The Central government had also previously imposed a ban on over100 Chinese mobile apps such as Tik Tok, PUBG, and Shein regarding security risks. Following this, Indian Army personnel were asked to remove around 80 apps including Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram to avoid any possible leak of sensitive information.
The app and its functionalities were reviewed by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh—who congratulated the developer Colonel Sai Shankar for his skill and ingenuity towards the development of SAI, ensuring secure internal communication for security forces.
(Sources- Times Now, Tribune India, Republic World)
Edited by- Hithesh Jain