Explained: What Is Maya OS And 'Chakravyuh' That Will Be Installed By Defence Ministry In All Its Computers

The homegrown operating system (OS) would be installed by the Defence Ministry which has been developed indigenously and has a special security feature called "Chakravyuh".

Maya OS has been developed by the Ministry of Defence, in a bid to protect its PCs and systems from malware and cyberattacks. Representative image.

Maya OS is India's own replacement for Microsoft Windows. The homegrown operating system (OS) would be installed by the Defence Ministry which has been developed indigenously and has a special security feature called "Chakravyuh". This development comes in the wake of rising cyber attacks and malware attacks that the Defence Ministry has decided to choose the homegrown OS instead of Windows OS. A key highlight of Maya OS' feature Chakravyuh is said to be based on our ancient defence tactics. Maya OS is based on open-source Ubuntu. The operating system is said to be installed in all the systems and computers of the Defence Ministry by the end of this year.

Everything You Need To Know About Maya OS

According to a report by The Hindu, which quoted an official involved in the shift from Windows OS to Maya OS, Maya has the interface and all functionality of Windows. Those who are switching to Maya OS may not feel much of a difference. The homegrown OS is in its evaluation stage and it is said to be available for rollout soon. The ministry would start with installing Maya OS alongside along the Chakravyuh protection system on all computers connected to the Internet in South Block before August 15. The remaining computer systems should be upgraded to Maya OS by the end of the year.

"To begin with, the direction is to install Maya on all computers connected to the Internet in South Block before August 15,” the official was quoted as saying. Chakravyuh, the security feature, is also being installed in the systems.

Behind the making of Maya OS were experts from the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The experts had joined hands with other homegrown software companies and academic institutions to test the OS. It took six months to develop Maya OS, says a report by CNBC TV18.

Based on Ubuntu -- a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software, Maya OS has been developed by the Ministry of Defence, in a bid to protect its PCs and systems from malware and cyberattacks. Maya OS also intends to introduce robust protection against malware and cyber-attacks by offering an interface and functionalities that are similar to that of Windows OS, ensuring a seamless transition for users.

The security feature called Chakravyuh in Maya OS is an end-point anti-malware and antivirus software. Chakravyuh creates a virtual layer between the user and the internet, thus, preventing cyber criminals and cyber attackers from accessing sensitive data.