India has launched
technology driven and ambitious projects that rely heavily upon
information and communication technology (ICT). In the past these
projects were put under an umbrella known as national e-governance
plan (NEGP). However, cyber
security issues of e-governance in India were left ignored
by Indian government. Now the NEGP has been renamed as Digital
India and it is also plagued by inadequate cyber security.
As a result, Digital India project is heading towards rough
waters in India.
Cyber security
infrastructure in India is never given any siginificance. Even when
some policy initiatives were undertaken by Indian government from
time to time, they were more on the side of lip works and paper tiger
only. For instance, the cyber
security policy of India 2013 is just a facade to cover
the inadequate cyber security of India.
An analysis
of the cyber security policy of India would make it clear that it is
useless and the cyber
security policy of India 2015 must be urgently formulated
by Indian government. The same must be accompanied by a Cyber
Attack Crisis Management Plan of India that can address
threats arising in Indian cybersapce. Cyber security should also be
made part of national
security policy of India.
At Perry4Law
Organisation (P4LO) and Perry4Law's
Techno Legal Base (PTLB), we firmly believe that a robust,
strong and resilient cyber
security infrastructure of India must be established as
soon as possible. This cyber security infrastructure must be capable
of thawarting the sophisticated malware and cyber attacks that have
tremendously increased in the recent past. We also recommend that
dedicated cyber
security law of India must also be formulated that must
put an obligation to inform
about cyber security breaches upon individuals and
organisations.
Recently the Prime
Minister's Office (PMO) appointed Dr.
Gulshan Rai as the first chief information security
officer (CISO) of India. This is a positive development as Dr.
Gulshan Rai is well capable to deal with cyber security related
issues in India. We hope that he would also take care of cyber
security of smart cities in India. Smart cities in India
are presently facing many problems
including the issues of civil
liberties. Further, cyber
security of smart grids of India must also be ensured to
protect our power grids.
Another related problem
is lack of cyber
security in banking industry of India. This is the reason
why the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to open an IT
Subsidiary so that cyber security related issues of banks
in india can be effectively managed by RBI.
P4LO recommend that cyber
security infrastructure of India must be strengthen immediately. This
is also relevant for the Digital India project that is facing many
cyber
security challenges. The sooner this is done the better it
would be for Indian cyberspace.