Long delayed, India may rush on its Cyber Security Strategy now

A recent report on Chinese state-sponsored entities mounting attacks on Indian critical infrastructure may spur the government to okay the long-delayed National Cyber Security Strategy fast, reports senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi:Faced with a spate of cyber attacks that have been growing in number and threat levels over time, India’s long awaited National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) may be up in a month’s time.

With a very recent report of Chinese state-sponsored entities that attacked Indian power sector organizations, there is a possibility that India’s cyber security policy and architecture may have to be erected very fast.

India’s National Cyber Security Coordinator, Lt Gen Rajesh Pant told ETV Bharat: “Our new strategy (NCSS) is going to come out very soon in which the entire ecosystem will be addressed and how we will protect ourselves. The work on the strategy is already over and it has been put up for the Union Cabinet’s approval. Therefore, it should be up in a month or two.”

In a recent report that hinted at the involvement of a Chinese state-sponsored group named ‘RedEcho’ that indulged in directed cyber attacks on India’s power sector, Gen Pant said: “It all relates to cyber hygiene. What we have to be really careful about are internet-facing computers. The adversarial cyber attacker makes you click on certain links on computers that are connected to the internet. That is when the malware comes in. And from there it spreads in what is called ‘lateral spreading’. And then progresses to acquire admin rights. But the critical part is that the adversary should not be able to get access to the operating systems (OS).”

“And because the dependence on IT has become so much, that is why every sector in India should have a cyber security centre in every sector,” India’s cyber security coordinator added.

The report brought out by an investigative and research-based report has been prepared by ‘Recorded Future’, a US-based private cyber threat analysis firm.

The report’s conclusions acquire significance in the backdrop of an ongoing tense border military standoff between India and China in the Himalayas in eastern Ladakh since April-May 2020 although a process of ‘disengagement and de-escalation’ has been set in motion through talks by the militaries of the two Asian giants.

Last year, India was ranked very low at 21 position in a measurement of world cyber power in a path-breaking report brought out by Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.

While US led the National Cyber Power Index (NCPI) list, China was ranked the second most powerful nation in terms of cyber capabilities, followed by UK, Russia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

The NCPI—a combined measure of the ‘intent’ of the nation as well as the cyber ‘capability’—calculated the cyber capabilities of 30 countries with reference to seven national objectives that include surveillance and monitoring of domestic groups, strengthening and enhancing national cyber defences, controlling and manipulating the information environment, foreign intelligence collection for national security, commercial gain or enhancing domestic industry growth, destroying or disabling an adversary’s infrastructure and capabilities, and, lastly defining international cyber norms and technical standards.