Indian IT minister lays the road map for India’s cyber future as government Cybersecurity Agency flags rising cases of cyber attacks to over 700 firms

India’s premier cybersecurity agency, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), has warned and issued alerts to over 700 firms across various sectors about increasing cybersecurity risks and increase in the frequency of cyberattacks targeting India. CERT-IN is responsible for issuing cautions and warnings regarding the most recent digital dangers or weaknesses and regularly offers countermeasures to secure PCs and organisations. The risk and seriousness of digital assaults in India have increased in the recent years.

India’s new IT minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on July 28th, was asked in the parliament to appraise the house on measures taken by the government to counter cyber threats and budget allocations to strengthen India’s cyber defence and critical infrastructure. The minister was also asked about the government’s plans on a national cybersecurity policy. The minister informed that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team conducts regular training programmes for network/system administrators and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of Government and critical sector organisations to secure the IT infrastructure and mitigate cyber-attacks. He also added that 25 training programs covering over 1300 participants were organised from 2020 to June 2021. Vaishnaw further stated that CERT conducts regular drills for capacity building and risk assessment of government organisations and critical sectors like Finance, Defence, Transport, Energy and Telecom.
Furthermore, the government has enlisted 58 security auditing organisations to support and audit the implementation of Information Security Best Practices. In addition, the government is operating the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre). The centre is providing detection of malicious programs and free tools to remove the same. The IT minister also mentioned that the government had formulated a draft National Cyber Security Strategy 2021 (NCSS2021), which holistically addresses the security issues of national cyberspace. India’s budget allocation to cybersecurity initiatives has grown in recent years, growing by 5 times in the last 6 years. In the financial year 2015-16, the government allocated Rs. 85 crore which was reduced to Rs. 70 crore the following year. This was doubled in 2017-18 financial year and since then has seen constant growth. The latest budget for cybersecurity is Rs. 416 crores.

Although India has continued to invest heavily in strengthening its cybersecurity, the rise in the number of cyber threats shows that it must continue to invest in these measures. A national cybersecurity policy is the need of the hour. The pandemic has made technology and the digital space a very important part of people’s lives, but as more people venture into the digital domain, it opens up the potential for more cyber vulnerabilities. This cybersecurity policy must ensure to guard India’s interests and protect its people.