Bolstering Indian cyber security is the need of the hour: ICERT

The need for stringent cyber security is become more evident with each passing day. In fact, Gulshan Rai, Director General of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (ICERT) has said that highlighting cyber security should be national concern.

At a symposium on Cyber Security and Privacy for the 79th annual meeting of Indian Academy of Sciences, Rai spoke about “Cyber Security Threat Landscape – Initiatives taken by Government for securing Cyber Space” in Chandigarh. Rai, in his talk, the official said that the ability to remain anonymous on the Internet makes attribution and investigation complicated. This, in turn, helps cyber attackers exploit information pertaining to financial, strategic and national security.

Cause for national concern

"Cyber attacks by hostile organisations, nations and criminals are on the rise, along with increase in cases of threatening governments, business and individuals by attempting to extract technical, financial, and national security information," Rai said in his talk. He laid emphasis on the dangers posed by the criminal elements in cyber space. Rai shed light upon Trojans and malware targeting especially the financial sector, saying that they were being used as cyber weapons to extract and steal information. They also end up causing disruptions in the functionalities of the Industrial Control Systems as well as critical infrastructure.

Talking about how social media is being looked at by cyber attackers actively, Rai said that the number of mobile phones in the world is expected to rise to 8 billion by 2016 and broadband subscriptions to 3.5 billion by 2015. He emphasised on the need to ensure cyber security in the country thus. Rai said that the government has already taken several steps to focus on enhancing the cyber security posture of the existing IT infrastructure in the company.

(With inputs from agencies)