Cyber Security In India: Some Reflections

Cyber security in India is one of the areas that have received a low priority attention of Indian government. Early warnings regarding lack of cyber security in India were given from time to time. However, as the issue has little political significance, it always remained a non existing issue for the political community of India. Naturally, there are many missing links existing in the cyber security of India.

Meanwhile, cyber attacks against India kept on increasing. Strategic and military computers of India were targeted and successfully compromised for months till India became aware of such compromise. Cases of cyber espionage, cyber warfare and cyber terrorism also increased against India, some known and some still unknown. There is no second opinion that the cyber security capabilities of India must be strengthened.

The cyber security of Indian satellites and critical infrastructure is also required to be strengthened. An implementable critical ICT infrastructure policy of India is also required to be formulated as soon as possible. Although the establishment of a national critical information infrastructure protection centre (NCIPC) of India has been proposed, till now no such centre has been established.

The cyber laws and cyber security trends of India 2011 by Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has clearly showed the cyber security vulnerabilities of India. The cyber law trends of India 2012 have also projected an increased rate of cyber crimes in India and cyber attacks against India in the year 2012. These projections have now come true and India has become really vulnerable to cyber crimes and cyber attacks.

While protecting its cyberspace, India must maintain a balance between national security and civil liberty protection requirements. Human rights protection in Indian cyberspace must be ensured. Even United Nations must actively come in support of human rights in cyberspace. Protecting civil liberties in cyberspace must be a top priority for UN and national governments.

                                                                                         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.

Critical Infrastructure is backbone of any Nation and if they are targeted then loss of tremendous nature can occur. It is also not necessary that critical infrastructure is attacked through physical presence at the place of critical infrastructure.

These days’ critical infrastructures are managed by information and communication technology (ICT). For instance, the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are the new cyber attack battlefield for cyber criminals and rouge nations. In these circumstances, protection of critical infrastructure of India is of utmost importance.

Critical infrastructure protection (CIP) in India is an integral part of cyber security of India and the same must be a part of cyber security policy of India as well. Similarly, critical ICT infrastructure protection in India is also urgently required.

Malware like Stuxnet and Duqu have already proved that critical infrastructures like power grids, nuclear facilities, satellites, defense networks, governmental informatics infrastructures, etc are vulnerable to sophisticated cyber attacks. The truth is that cyber attacks are affecting Indian critical infrastructure.

We have no dedicated and implementable critical ICT infrastructure protection policy of India. Even we have no implementable cyber crisis management plan of India as on date. Although constitution of a national critical information infrastructure protection centre (NCIPC) of India has been suggested yet its constitution may still take decades. Till then the critical infrastructure protection (CIP) and homeland security (HS) of India would remain in doldrums.

It is high time to consider the cyber security reflections and work towards strengthening of cyber security of India. Further, issues of cyber warfare against India and its defenses must also be considered as cyber warfare against India is no more a fiction but a reality. Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) hope that Indian government would consider these recommendations as soon as possible and act accordingly.

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