Indian Cyber Security Infrastructure Must Be Strengthened

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.