Cyber Warfare
is a concept that is well known at both national and international
levels. In one form or other and in lesser degree or more, Cyber
Warfare has been accepted as a reality in the present Cyber World.
However, Cyber
Warfare concept still haunts the international community
and till now we have no dedicated Legal Framework for Cyber Warfare
at international level.
Till Harmonised
Cyber Warfare Legal Framework emerges, piecemeal efforts would try to
fill the void in this regard. Not very late NATO
requested Cyber Security cooperation form India.
We should not wait for others to develop our own Cyber Warfare
Capabilities in India. In fact, Cyber
Warfare Policy of India
must be urgently formulated and immediately implemented. The same
must be part and parcel of India’s
National Cyber Security Policy.
Cyber
Security in India
needs to be strengthened keeping in mind the growing cases of Cyber
Attacks and Cyber Espionage attacks against India. Even Cyber
Warfare against India
is well known and is not new. Ensuring 100% cyber security is next to
impossible. However, we can minimise Cyber Attacks. India
has remained indifferent
towards Cyber Security for long. This resulted in poor Cyber Security
Capabilities and Expertise. It is only now that India
has paid attention to this
crucial field and it is still not too late.
India
should definitely step
up/accelerate its efforts to strengthen Cyber Security along with
Traditional National Security Capabilities. Internet and Hidden
Internet
has opened new frontiers and unforeseen challenges before India.
Internet is increasingly been used to not only propagate
Terrorism propaganda but also to recruit new Terrorists.
To tackle
Terrorists’ use of Internet, International Cooperation amongst
Governments, Organisations, Internet companies and telcos could be
helpful. For the time being, Cyber Criminals/Terrorists are one step
ahead of various Governments and International Cooperation
activities.
New
technologies have also caused problems for India. For instance,
Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) is one of the technical
challenges that Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies across the
world are finding difficult to tackle. However, of late strong
Encryption usage has emerged as more troublesome that VOIP. Further,
VOIP can be intercepted in certain circumstances.
Developing of
Cyber Security Capabilities and Expertise is immediately required in
India. There is also an urgent need to develop both Preventive and
Offensive Cyber Security Capabilities of India. The sooner it is done
the better it would be for the National Security of India.