Indian Railways Strengthens Ticket Reservation System With Robust Cyber Security

The reservation ticket booking system of Indian Railways is a robust and highly secure IT platform equipped with industry-standard, state-of-the-art cyber security controls. Indian Railways has taken several measures to enhance performance of reservation system and availability of regular/tatkal tickets.

Key Cybersecurity Enhancements
- Suspicious Accounts Deactivated:
- About 3.02 crore user IDs flagged as suspicious have been deactivated since January 2025.
- Anti‑Bot Solutions:
- Deployment of Akamai anti‑bot technology to filter out non‑genuine users and ensure fair access for legitimate passengers.
- Aadhaar‑Based OTP Verification:
- Introduced for Tatkal bookings:
- Online Tatkal: operational in 322 trains.
- Reservation counters: implemented in 211 trains.
- Result: confirmed Tatkal ticket availability time has increased in 65% of online trains and 95% of 96 popular trains.
- Cyber Crime Action:
- Complaints filed on the National Cyber Crime Portal for suspiciously booked PNRs.

System Safeguards
- Multi‑Layer Protection:
- Network firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, application delivery controllers, and web application firewalls.
- Secure Hosting:
- Dedicated, access‑controlled Data Centre with CCTV surveillance and end‑to‑end encryption.
- Certified under ISO 27001 Information Security Management System (ISMS) standards.
- Threat Intelligence:
- RailTel Corporation provides deep/dark web surveillance, digital risk protection, and take‑down services.
- Audits & Monitoring:
- Regular audits by CERT‑In empanelled agencies.
- Continuous monitoring by CERT‑In and National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).

Impact
- Improved fairness and transparency in Tatkal bookings.
- Enhanced resilience against cyber threats.
- Greater passenger confidence in the reliability of the reservation system.

This initiative shows Indian Railways is treating its reservation system like critical national infrastructure, with layered defenses and proactive monitoring.