Cyberattack on GSTN portal raises concerns among taxpayers

The GST Network (GSTN), the IT backbone of the Goods and Services Tax, put out a tweet saying that it had detected "some activity in cyberspace by unscrupulous elements because of which some taxpayers may have experienced difficulties/delays in accessing the GST portal which otherwise is working fine. GSTN portal stores highly sensitive information of about 1.25 crore taxpayers, many of which are very large corporations.

Yesterday's alleged cyber attack incident raised concerns among many taxpayers on the robustness of the GSTN portal's security system against hacking attempts. However, the portal's eight-layer security system alerts any unusual activity - sometimes multiple logins from the same GST registrant.

The attack was of DDoS genre where large amounts of fake internet traffic are targeted onto the servers in a network, eventually causing disruption to genuine traffic. Many tax payers expressed their concerns over the robustness of the security system of GSTN against hacking attempts.

GSTN sources said they detected unusual activity in the portal but they declined any serious concerns. "The portal's eight-layer security system alerts any unusual activity - sometimes multiple logins from the same GST registrant," said a GSTN source. GSTN portal is experiencing the strain of cyber-attacks, which has hampered the accessibility and functioning of the portal.