Thursday, August 30, 2012

Why India Is Ignoring Cyber Security?

Cyber crimes and cyber attacks have become a prime cause of concern world over. Even India is facing serious cyber threats but India is not well prepared to deal with the same. Take the example of cyber security of power sector of India that is in doldrums.

Cyber security in India has not received the attention it required from Indian government.  Naturally there are many cyber security challenges in India that have still to be redressed by India. India is still struggling to deal with menaces of cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, cyber warfare, etc.

According to Praveen Dalal, leading techno legal expert of Asia and managing partner of ICT law firm Perry4Law, India should step up its efforts to strengthen cyber defence in tandem with traditional national security capabilities. Ensuring foolproof cyber security, he believes, is next to impossible. However, Dalal said that cyber attacks can be minimized, though. "India has remained indifferent towards cyber defence for long, which resulted in poor cyber security capabilities," he opined.

India also lacks effective cyber law and enforceable cyber security policy. For instance, we have a single provision to tackle cyber terrorism in India. This may not adequately protect India's sovereign interest given the global onslaught of cyber terrorist activities.

There is no doubt that India requires a dedicated law on cyber terrorism. Existing laws in India, even the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act 2000, are not sufficient for effectively regulating all the cyber crimes occurring in India.

India also needs good techno-legal cyber security for its defense forces. India must urgently formulate good cyber security policy and effective crisis management plan for cyber attacks and cyber terrorism. The issue must be taken at the national level and a national policy is needed in this regard.

It is high time for India to take care of these issues to prevent further troubles and problems.