Why Cybersecurity Is The Next Big Thing In India

As per the 2013’s report, the cybersecurity policy was neutral and quite open for all. But it requires an upgradation along with updated technology of other digital media platforms. 14 to 15% of India’s total economy comprises the digital economy, and it is expected to approach 20% by the end of 2024 with growing data and cloud centers. Now India has more than 120 registered cloud and data centers, which will increase in coming years.

A report highlights a cyberattack on the Kudankulam nuclear power, which happened in September 2019. Though it has been denied by the government officials in spite of an audit confirmation. Upon the very context the release of National Cybersecurity Strategy has become of prime importance.

As mentioned before the 2013’s Cybersecurity policy need upgradation to tackle more complicated digital issues as the number of internet user are increasing day by day. An individual consumes 15-20gigabits of internet per year, which shows a 35% growth rate. With rapid use of Artificial Intelligence (Al), machine learning, data analytics, IoT embedded sensors and cloud computing the cyberspace operation has become more complicated in recent times.

Sectors like manufacture, healthcare, energy, retail trade, etc., are facing advanced persistent threats (APTs), which results in incidents like data leakage, ATM card denial, password changing, ransomware, and other credential exchange. Malware due to network using is increasing day by day.

A sharp increase in the embedded system attract also reported, most of which are results from cyberspace of various international jurisdictions. The government of different countries is now focusing on taking actions due to data localization, fake news using fake data, internet governance, modification of government laws, etc.

In order to address new cybersecurity issues the concept of ‘active cyber defense’ has been introduced. Some of the examples of this are Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) etc.

In India, private sectors like power, transportation, information infrastructure, education, health care, etc. have started playing a prominent role in operating information infrastructure as it has become crucial to operate essential functioning platforms. Various economic sectors of India have now understood the necessity of undertaking risk and gap management in cyber resilience. Some of the National Cyber Security Projects, like National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC), needs to be reviewed as the security technology changes over time.