ASIGMA And SAI: Indian Army Apps Are All About Facilitating Secure Messaging Within The Service

 

Indian Army: Credit Wikimedia Commons  


The Indian Army has launched a messaging app called Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application or ASIGMA.

The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that the web-based application was built wholly in-house by the officials from the Corps of Signals of the Army.

As reported, this newly launched application will be used on the Army's internal network to replace the Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) messaging application, which has been in use for the previous 15 years. The application has been deployed on Army-owned hardware and is designed to provide long-term support and future improvements.

According to the statement, the customised messaging application fits all future user requirements and provides an improved user experience. It contains a number of modern features, such as multi-level security, message prioritisation and tracking, a dynamic global address book, and a variety of configurations to match the Army's needs.

This future-ready messaging app is expected to suit the Army's real-time data transfer and messaging needs, particularly in light of the current geopolitical security climate, and will be in keeping with the government's 'Make in India' strategy.

Moreover, the statement noted: “The Indian Army has embraced automation in a major way, especially post Covid-19 outbreak and is taking substantial steps towards paperless functioning. ASIGMA will further boost these efforts and will add to the host of other applications already being employed by the Army over its captive pan-Army network.”

Earlier this year, it was reported that the Indian Army has launched a new app called SAI. The army has developed the simple and secure messaging tool called the "Secure Application for Internet" or SAI in the pursuit of "Atmanirbhar Bharat".

For the Android platform, the application is said to be able to provide end-to-end encrypted voice, text, and video calling services via the internet. The model is comparable to commercial messaging apps such as Whatsapp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS, and it uses an end-to-end encryption communications system. With local in-house servers and coding that can be modified as needed, SAI outperforms the competition in terms of security.

At that time, it was also said that the Army Cyber Group and a CERT-in accredited auditor have both reviewed SAI. The filing of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), hosting the infrastructure on NIC and working on the iOS platform are also going on.

As per PIB, "SAI will be utilised pan Army to facilitate secure messaging within the service."

Earlier this year, the Indian Army has urged all of its officials and soldiers to delete 89 apps by July 15. The list includes not only Chinese apps such as TikTok that have already been blocked by the government, but also American sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Zoom, Truecaller, Reddit and others. As reported, Songs.pk, WeChat, Hike, Likee, Shareit, PUBG and Tinder were among the 89 apps and such a step was taken due to national security concerns.

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