Indian government is famous for its knee jerk
reactions. It always tries to cure the problem rather than preventing
it from happening. Even the cure part of India government is far from
perfect. In short, Indian government is neither interested in
preventive nor a curative situation.
One such area that has been ignored for more than a
five years by Indian government pertains to cyber security that is
still an ignored
world. Surprisingly, Praveen Dalal, leading techno legal
expert of Asia and managing partner of ICT law firm Perry4Law,
warned about this situation in the year 2006/07 itself but it seems
the Indian government is too slow to react.
Another related warning was given by Praveen Dalal
regarding the lack of cyber
security of power sector of India in the year 2011 but
Indian government again failed to pick up the signal. It is only
after a massive power blackout that Indian government has woken up to
the dangers of cyber attacks against Indian power sector.
The truth is that cyber
security of power energy and utilities in India is in
really bad shape. Now even the enquiry into the July 30-31 grid
collapse has affirmed the opinion of Praveen Dalal. The enquiry
report has affirmed that Indian power systems could be vulnerable to
severe cyber attacks on a scale that can have serious implications
for national security and economy.
I am not sure whether even this would be successful
in waking up Indian government to streamline its power sector cyber
security systems in general and cyber security of India in
particular.
Cyber
security challenges for the smart grids in India are not
easy to manage and India is clearly not equipped to do so at present.
According to Praveen Dalal, Power
Grids and Utilities Cyber Security in India and their Challenges
are not easy to manage. They require a systematic, dedicated and
security oriented approach on the part of Indian Government. In fact,
Smart
Meters are becoming headache for power companies world
wide, informs Praveen Dalal. Naturally, Cyber
Security Capabilities of India must be Strengthened opines
Praveen Dalal.
Keeping this fact in mind, critical
infrastructure protection in India in general and cyber
security of automated power grids of India in particular must be
ensured with latest technology and international best practices.
