November 19, 2018
Sir / Madam,
Please refer to the email trail received from the GM-CEPT addressed specifically to the CPMG-Karnataka Circle regarding the above subject an extract of which is as below:

"In order to ensure best defense against malware and to have hygienic network of Dop, it has been decided by Secretary (Posts) that all the systems which are not updated with latest OS patches (or) latest AV signatures should be disconnected from the DoP Network automatically.

Before implementing the above policy of automatic removal from network (through centralized policy pushing mechanism), it has been decided to conduct a sanity drive on Holidays for group of Circles at a time." 

The activity of sanitisation has to be carried out only on a Holiday and for Karnataka Circle the date has been fixed on 21-11-2018. The activities to be taken up on the date of sanitisation are as below:

a) All offices should check for the OS Patch updates / AV Installation / AV updation / GUP Updation status in all the systems. lf any system is failing in the above updation, the same has to be updated.

b) Ensure that all systems are joined to the India Post domain (indiapost.gov.in). Further, it is to be ensured that all applications are accessed by domain user credentials only, i.e by logging into the system with CSI user credentials only.

c) Any system which could not be installed with OS updates/Anti-Virus due to any other compatible reasons, should be upgraded (either Hardware or Operating System) first and then only to be brought into the network.

Though the date of sanitisation for Karnataka Circle has been fixed on 21-11-2018, ensuring that all the above activities are carried out on a single day will be impossible. It is hence directed that the activities described in Paras a,b & c above can be started from tomorrow itself i.e 17-11-2018 after 2 PM only. The activities can be continued on Sunday(18-11-2018) also. Again on Monday(19-11-2018) & Tuesday(20-11-2018) the activities can be carried out after 2 PM. It has been suggested to carry out the updation activities after 2 PM to reduce the load on the firewall & the servers during the peak time of transactions. 

On 21-11-2018 the date of the sanitisation, it is requested to cause to issue necessary instructions to all concerned to bring suitable number of staff (System Administrators or Supervisors etc.) in all the offices of the circle on duty and to complete this exercise of AV installation/

AV Updation / OS patch Updation / Domain Joining in all the systems of all offices. CEPTTeam, CSI and Nl teams will be working on that date to assist the Circle and the CEPT team details are as follows:

Sl No Name of the official Phone number e-mail

1, Smt. K.Ramah 0821-2300738 itsecuritycept@indiapost.gov.in

2 Sri Rohit 0821-2300717 ​itsecuritycept@indiapost.gov.in

To update the OS patches, the patches can be downloaded centrally where broadband is available OS wise(32/64 Bit) and then taken by a pen drive to different locations to update the systems rather than wait for 21-11-2018 when the URLs will open in Sify.

​CEPT will also ensure whitelisting of URLs required for OS patch updates on that day i.e., 21-11-2018. However as a large number of systems are involved updating of OS patches will not be possible on a single day.

The list of systems which have not been installed with the Symantec antivirus OR have not been updated with Symantec latest definitions is attached for reference. Also the document containing the procedure for installation/updation of AV , OS Patch updation process & AD Joining Procedure is also attached.

After the sanitisation exercise is completed on 21-11-2018, based on the centralised report available with CEPT, such systems which did not fulfill the conditions i.e AV installation, AV Updation, GUP Updation, Not joined to India Post Domain, Not installed with the latest OS patches and Users not logging in with CSI credentials to the systems will be automatically isolated from the Sify Network. Such systems cannot work on any of the Departmental Softwares(CSI,Finacle & MCCamish, etc.) as Sify connectivity will be cut off.

The competent authority has hence directed that the above instructions/guidelines be complied with without fail within the timeline prescribed(21-11-2018) to avoid hampering business operations after 21-11-2018.

With Regards,
A.P.M.G. (Technology & PMU),O/o CPMG, Karnataka Circle,
Bengaluru-560001.
Phone: 080-22392601,22205780.