CYBERSECURITY GAPS IN eGOVERNANCE PORTALS: A POST-PANDEMIC AUDIT AND POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR INDIA

Abstract

The rapid and unplanned digitization of government services during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented cybersecurity deficit in eGovernance infrastructure across developing nations, with India presenting a particularly salient case. This paper conducts a systematic post-pandemic cybersecurity audit of India's central and state-level eGovernance portals, evaluating their compliance with internationally recognized security standards including ISO/IEC 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, OWASP Top-10, and India's own National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP 2013, revised 2023). Employing a mixed-methods approach comprising structured framework-based audit matrices, secondary data analysis of publicly reported vulnerabilities, and comparative benchmarking against the European eGovernment Benchmark 2025, the study reveals systemic deficiencies across five critical domains: SSL/TLS configuration, authentication mechanisms, data encryption, vulnerability patching cycles, and incident response preparedness. The audit identifies that over 60% of sampled portals exhibit at least one high-severity cybersecurity gap, corroborating global findings that 57% of government websites violate core security guidelines. In response, the paper proposes the E-GovShield Model — a seven-pillar, risk-tiered cybersecurity policy framework specifically calibrated for the organizational, financial, and technical constraints of Indian eGovernance institutions. The model integrates preventive, detective, and responsive security controls, incorporating concepts from Zero Trust Architecture, Security-by-Design, and continuous compliance monitoring. Policy recommendations are directed at CERT-In, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National Informatics Centre (NIC), and state IT departments. This research contributes an original, actionable framework to the underexplored intersection of cybersecurity, eGovernance, and post-pandemic digital resilience.