PROBLEMS FACED BY INDIA IN CYBERSECURITY

“Cyber-Security is much more than a matter of IT.”
― Stephane Nappo
As the report suggests by NITI (National Institute of Transforming India) aayog India ranks 3rd in terms of the highest number of internet users in the world after the USA and China, the number has grown 6-fold between 2012–2017 with a compound annual growth rate of 44%. India being a superpower is every Indian’s dream. But as we look to the infrastructure at the initial level we are lacking behind in many factors. India is considered to be the world’s largest software developing and exporting country, yet it is dragging one’s feet in ensuring the cybersecurity of this nation. As compared to other nations like China and the US or Russia, India has a unique advantage over them in the matter of design and density as it is ranked as 2nd largest mobile and Internet users around the world just behind China.
In this phase of the rapid development of information and technology where Speed of Microprocessor chips doubles every 12–18 months, Storage Density doubles every 12 months, Bandwidth is doubling every 12 months, Price keeps dropping making technology affordable for everyone. When India is marching forward with its ambitious project like “DIGITAL INDIA” and “CASHLESS ECONOMY” the country needs to protect its users from this theft.
According to a report published by Comparitech — India rank is 15th in the matter of cybersecurity out of 60 other nations (Where 60th being the safest and 1st being the least safe). So do the report published by CERT-in (Computer Emergency Response Team India) a government cybersecurity nodal department stated that India faces the most attack in April and June. Another report published by (ISTR) Internet security Threat Report States that After the US and China, India is the nation facing most cyber threats. To overcome these things India needs a strong policy to safeguard its public interest related to cybersecurity. National Cyber Security Policy 2013 is lagging and needs regular updates as the world has shifted from Firewall to APT, Network flow analysis, etc.
The major problem facers are financial organizations, healthcare organizations, Public sector, Retail and Accommodation, various espionage, and many more. Few points that need to be focused on are Lack of National level architecture for Cyber-security — Critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector, and the armed forces have their fire fighting agencies. However there is no national security architecture that unifies the efforts of all these agencies to be able to assess the nature of any threat and tackle them effectively. The Prime Minister’s Office has created a position towards this cause but there is a long way to go before India has the necessary structure in place. Lack of uniformity in devices used for internet access — With varying income groups in India, not everyone can afford expensive phones. For example in the US, Apple has over 44% market shares. However, in India the iPhones with their higher security norms are used by less than 1% of mobile users. Lack of trained and qualified manpower — to implement the countermeasures. Lack of awareness and the culture of cybersecurity — at the individual as well as institutional levels. As there is no National regulatory policy in place for cyber-security there is a lack of awareness at both company level as well as individual level. Domestic netizens can protect and be protected from the cyber-attacks only if there is a guided and supervised legal framework.
Even to protect the world’s largest biometric data- AADHAR sophisticated cybersecurity is a much-wanted thing among the netizens. Hence, Cybersecurity is just like other responsibility and it must be safeguarded at all costs.