New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the introduction of new cybersecurity policy on the 74th Independence Day in Red Fort, India has reached the final stages of the policy deliberations. Sources said that the policy will be introduced next month.
The National Cyber Security Coordinator officials and Ministry of Electronics and IT officials are devising the new policy. It is also expected to be a revised and improvised version of the 2013 policy. The policy as per reports is aimed to curb cybercrimes including data phishing, fake accounts, identity threat, unlawful online transactions and others.
As per sources, the new policy will enlist the definitive do's and don'ts of cyberspace and will define cybercrime. Union Government over the past few months have also asked telecom companies to undertake 'Information security audit' to check any vulnerability in the network.
Earlier, Department of Telecommunications in July had written to all web portals and websites within the ambit to conduct a security audit and submit a certificate. This letter was a reminder of a similar letter that was sent by the Department of Telecommunication in October 2019.
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The letter was sent in October after the department was alerted about data ex-filtration that was taking place from one of the web portals of Department and did not have a valid security audit certificate. The letter had also asked government portals and websites to upgrade systems and ensure online security in official communications and transactions.
In September, the Union Government had also constituted an expert committee to probe the allegations that a Chinese company monitored online activity and data of thousands of Indians including politicians, bureaucrats and journalists.
As per National Cyber Security Coordination officials, over 300 cybersecurity attacks are reported every day in India. Cybercrimes in India also surged during COVID-19 where scammers created fake versions of flagship payments and many citizens have fallen prey.
After clashes between Indian and Chinese forces at the border, the Government of India had banned over 200 Chinese apps citing threat to sovereignty and national security. The government had issued a nation wise alert and monitoring as the chance of intensified cybersecurity attacks from China after the ban of mobile applications was high.
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