Alert on cybersecurity

India plans to create a workforce of 5 lakh cybersecurity professionals in the next five years cutting across public and private sectors. A group of experts reckon India will have a 4.7 lakh shortfall of such experts in the coming years.
Even as National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon flagged off a set of recommendations for government-private sector collaboration on cybersecurity, it is painfully clear that India, as a late entrant to the party, will struggle to keep up with the constantly evolving challenges in the cyber world.
Cyberwarfare has emerged as a top-of-the-mind threat to national security as India’s systems are battered daily by cyber attacks both from within and outside the country. Cyber experts say India faces the greatest attacks from the following countries __ US, China, Russia and some EU countries and Iran.
Capacity building therefore is of paramount importance, and this was the core message of the cybersecurity recommendations unveiled on Monday. Releasing the report, “Engagement with Private Sector on Cyber Security” Menon said the government would introduce specialized “cyber security related curriculum” in engineering and management courses and establish a multi-disciplinary centre of excellence.
The Centre plans to establish an autonomous institution – Institute of Cyber Security Professionals of India – along the lines of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) and make “cyber security audits” mandatory for companies by amending the Companies Act.
A recent report by Bloomberg said a “trove” of confidential data had been mined from the computer of YC Deveshwar, CEO of ITC, for over a year before the company was alerted. In the public sector, less than 20 per cent of the cyberattacks on national security systems are even reported. Bloomberg quoted security experts to say “networks of major oil companies have been harvested for seismic maps charting oil reserves; patent law firms for their clients’ trade secrets; and investment banks for market analysis that might impact the global ventures of state-owned companies.”
Observing that neither the government nor the private sector can achieve cyber security in isolation, Menon stressed on the need to build partnerships and cultivate a habit of working together that “we haven't had in the past”. “If India has to grow its IT industry, we also have to maintain our reputation of being safe, secure partners with whom everybody can work with,” he said. The JWG report identifies four pilot projects including setting up a pilot testing labs, conducting a test audit, study of sample Critical Information Infrastructure and establishment of a multi-disciplinary Centre of Excellence.
India is not alone in raising increased concerns of cyber vulnerability. Last week, US secretary of defense, Leon Panetta said the US needed to work on new laws on cybersecurity.  "You all need to pay attention that these were not just run-of-the-mill attacks by a group of disenfranchised youth or cybercriminals….There is a different level of complexity and capability associated with these attacks," Panetta was quoted as saying.
But there are related concerns in cyberspace that have more to do with the maintenance of social harmony in a country as diverse as India. Menon said from the government point of view there were larger implications as well given the recent instances of misuse of social media to spread disinformation and affect social harmony.
“This kind of phenomenon is something we need to learn to deal with. This is something new. The important thing for a democratic society like us is how do we do it while maintaining democratic freedoms,” he said.
October 15, 2012End