For a safe cyberspace

The Hindu
Subi Chaturvedi
December 19, 2017

Cybersecurity needs to be integrated in every aspect of policy and planning

India is one of the key players in the digital and knowledge-based economy, holding more than a 50% share of the world’s outsourcing market. Pioneering and technology-inspired programmes such as Aadhaar, MyGov, Government e-Market, DigiLocker, Bharat Net, Startup India, Skill India and Smart Cities are propelling India towards technological competence and transformation. India is already the third largest hub for technology-driven startups in the world and its Information and Communications Technology sector is estimated to reach the $225 billion landmark by 2020.
However, these achievements come with a problem: innovation in technology, enhanced connectivity, and increasing integration in commerce and governance also make India the fifth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of cybersecurity breaches, according to the Internal Security Threat Report of 2017 by Symantec. Till June 2017, 27,482 cybersecurity threats had been reported in the country, according to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team’s report. As this is a 23% increase from 2014 figures, it coincides with rapid growth and innovation in the ICT sector.
The good news, though, is that India recognises this. The second Global Cybersecurity Index, released by the International Telecommunication Union in July, which measured the commitment of nations to cybersecurity, found that India ranked 23 out of 165 nations.

Types of attacks

Of the cybersecurity attacks, Ransomware attacks have been the most common in the last few years (Ransomware is a type of software that threatens to publish a person’s data or block it unless a ransom is paid). Apart from WannaCry and Petya, other Ransomware attacks that made news globally were Locky, Cerber, Bucbi, SharkRaaS, CryptXXX and SamSam. The success of each of these inspired new attacks. The ransom demands also increased — the average mean ransom demand rose from $294 in 2015 to $1077 in 2016, according to Symantec.
In India, in May 2017, a data breach at the food delivery App, Zomato,  led to personal information of about 17 million users being stolen and put for sale on the Darknet. The company had to negotiate with the hacker in order to get it taken down. Similarly, hackers stole data from 57 million Uber riders and drivers. Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to keep the data breach a secret.
While Windows operating systems were the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, a number of Android threats have been reported in the last couple of years, including potent crypto-ransomware attacks on Android devices. The attacks aren’t limited to mobile phones and e-Pads. All devices, including televisions that use Android, are also potentially vulnerable. In 2016, the first known Ransomware, named KeRanger, targeting Mac users was also reported. The Mirai botnet malware affected 2.5 million home router users and other Internet of Things devices. A number of viruses, malware and cryptoworms are also being developed in the JavaScript, which gives the attackers cross-platform options.

Taking action

Given the huge number of online users and continued efforts on affordable access, cybersecurity needs to be integrated in every aspect of policy and planning. At the 15th Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team conference in Delhi, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted the need for robust cybersecurity policies and frameworks. The government is keen to fund cybersecurity research. It announced that it will award a grant worth ₹5 crore to startups working on innovations in the field of cybersecurity.
India needs to quickly frame an appropriate and updated cybersecurity policy, create adequate infrastructure, and foster closer collaboration between all those involved to ensure a safe cyberspace. Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha said at the Global Conference on Cyberspace 2017 that there must be enhanced cooperation among nations and reaffirmed a global call to action for all United Nations member nations to not attack the core of the Internet even when in a state of war. This also clearly emphasises the fact that more than ever before, there is a need for a Geneva-like Convention to agree on some high-level recommendations among nations to keep the Internet safe, open, universal and interoperable.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pakistan's shame: 139 Pakistanis on UN terror list; Hafiz Saeed also named

Business Standard April 05, 2018 Amid its apparent failure to withdraw support and funding to proscribed terrorist organisations, Pakistan is set to be 'grey listed' by the Financial Action Task Force in June. Pakistan continues to be associated with globally-censured terrorists with 139 Pakistani citizens and entities featuring in the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC's) consolidated list of terrorists or terror-supporting organisations. The individuals and entities from the country in the list include Mumbai terrorist attack mastermind Hafeez Saeed's outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and the Haqqanis. The list was released on Tuesday and highlighted names of terrorists who lived in Pakistan, used Pakistani soil for their operations or collaborated with terrorist groups operating from within Pakistan. The list is topped by Osama bin Laden's heir apparent Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was a former operational and military lea...
Read more
 The Telegraph  December 24, 2020 A new, potentially more infectious variant of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 has been found in Britain in cases linked to South Africa, British health secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday.  South Africa’s health department said last week that a new genetic mutation of the virus had been discovered and might be responsible for a recent surge in infections there. “Thanks to the impressive genomic capability of the South Africans, we’ve detected two cases of another new variant of coronavirus here in the UK,” Hancock told a media briefing. “Both are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks.”  Britain is already trying to curb the spread of a mutated strain of the virus which is up to 70 per cent more transmissible, and further studies are being carried out on the new variant. “This new variant is highly concerning, because it is yet more transmissible, and it appears to have mutated ...
Read more

CIBIL- SIDBI study: ‘Despite rate cuts & govt push, MSME credit growth slides’

The Indian Express October 17, 2019 Mirroring the deepening slowdown in the economy, commercial lending exposure in the country has declined 2.6 per cent, or Rs 1,70,000 crore, to Rs 63.8 lakh crore in the June quarter of 2019-20 from Rs 65.5 lakh crore in March 2019, said a TransUnion CIBIL- SIDBI study. Despite several rate cuts by the RBI, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have recorded a slide in credit exposure. “Entities having less than Rs 25 crore credit exposure have reported a lower credit growth rate of 12 per cent in the year ended June 2019 as against a growth rate of 23.1 per cent last year. Very small segment (less than Rs 10 lakh exposure) have registered a credit growth of only 11.3 per cent in June as against a growth rate of 26.2 per cent last year,” says the study. Of the Rs 63.8-lakh crore commercial lending exposure, micro and SME segments account for Rs 15.7 lakh crore exposure (24.5 per cent of commercial credit outstanding). While mi...
Read more