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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World's First Floating City

Image
Floating City: Credid OCEANIX By 2025, the world's first floating city, which will be constructed off the coast of South Korea, is expected to be finished. What makes it more interesting is the fact that the city, simply a cluster of hexagonal platforms resting on top of the water, is claimed to be capable of surviving natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis, and Category 5 hurricanes. The floating settlement, which will be created off the coast of Busan at an estimated cost of $200 million and backed by the United Nations, will be a "flood-proof infrastructure" made up of multiple man-made islands. The floating city will be self-sufficient in terms of food, energy, and water, thanks to a collaboration between the project's designer, OCEANIX, and the UN Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat). It will generate electricity using solar panels on the roofs of buildings and transport residents in futuristic boat pods. Organic farming in aeroponic and aquaponic systems,...
Read more

Controversial US Tech Firm Clearview AI Finds Itself In A Difficult Position Once Again

Image
The controversial facial recognition service provider Clearview AI, which was recently linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, agreed to resolve an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit filed in 2020. The lawsuit accused the firm of violating an Illinois law prohibiting the use of people's biometric data without their consent. In a statement, Nathan Freed Wessler, a deputy director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project said: “By requiring Clearview to comply with Illinois’ pathbreaking biometric privacy law not just in the state, but across the country, this settlement demonstrates that strong privacy laws can provide real protections against abuse.” “Clearview can no longer treat people’s unique biometric identifiers as an unrestricted source of profit. Other companies would be wise to take note, and other states should follow Illinois’ lead in enacting strong biometric privacy laws,” he added. It should be noted that the Biometric Information Privacy ...
Read more