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NEW DELHI - Indian, Pakistani and Chinese agencies have conducted cyberwarfare operations on several occasions in the last two years, giving greater urgency to Indian plans to establish a National Cyber Command, said an Indian Defence Ministry source.
About $3 billion has been set aside for establishing the command, and meetings have been taken place between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and intelligence agencies to devise systems to protect India's cyberspace, the source said.
The prime minister provided initiative for the program after an analysis showed that command responsibility for cyberwar is diffused among various intelligence agencies, the Defence Ministry source said.
"India should adopt an interministerial, interdepartmental, interservices, multiagency, multidisciplinary approach to dealing with emerging cyberwarfare threats," said Gurmeet Kanwal, a retired Army brigadier general and director of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, based here.
"No single agency in India is charged with ensuring cyber and information technology security," he said. "A nodal agency must be created to spearhead India's cyberwar efforts under a national cybersecurity adviser, who should report directly to the national security adviser.
"The armed forces must be part of the overall national effort from the very beginning, so that emerging tactics, techniques and procedures can be incorporated into doctrine and training," Kanwal said.
The chances of India suffering a cyber attack are high, a senior Army official said, adding that a majority of India's weapons, network-centric systems and equipment are digital. The Indian government is assessing the threat on a platform-by-platform and case-by-case basis.
But there is some dispute among analysts here about the extent that cyberwar threatens Indian assets, including nuclear assets.
"India does face a major threat from cyberwarfare, which will be used in tandem with conventional [warfare] or as a stand-alone form in the future," said Rahul Bhonsle, another retired Army brigadier general and a defense analyst here.
"This is one of the main components of the overall asymmetric philosophy of conflicts adopted by the Chinese in 2000, when two Chinese Air Force colonels published the book, 'Unrestricted Warfare,'" Bhonsle said. "China has developed a substantial offensive cyberwarfare capability; thus, India is posed a challenge, and Defence Minister A.K. Antony has been highlighting the same in various forums, as well."
But Sanjay Pandey, CEO of Mumbai-based iSec Services, downplayed the possibility of cyber attacks.
"The threat to India as of now is limited to political [defacing government websites] and economical spheres," such as losing confidential information though spyware, or losing money through Internet banking gateways, he said.
"Causing any physical harm in terms of switching off power supplies or [nuclear] reactors is difficult, as use of the Internet, et cetera, is limited in India," Pandey said.
India and the U.S. in July signed a cybersecurity collaboration pact, setting out best practices for the exchange of critical cybersecurity information and expertise between the two governments through the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (U.S.-CERT).
CERT-IN is the government agency that responds to computer security incidents.
The agreement will allow the governments and broader cybersecurity communities in the two countries to coordinate work on a broad range of technical and operational issues.
Bhonsle said the role of the pact is limited and remains to be seen.
"This will no doubt benefit India in that the vast infrastructure and expertise that is available with U.S.-CERT will be shared by CERT-IN," he said. "Since sharing of information about cyber threats and challenges is also involved, it will function reasonably well. The obvious partner will be Israel ... but how cooperation will develop remains to be seen."
India Debates Cyber Threat - Defense News
About $3 billion has been set aside for establishing the command, and meetings have been taken place between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and intelligence agencies to devise systems to protect India's cyberspace, the source said.
The prime minister provided initiative for the program after an analysis showed that command responsibility for cyberwar is diffused among various intelligence agencies, the Defence Ministry source said.
"India should adopt an interministerial, interdepartmental, interservices, multiagency, multidisciplinary approach to dealing with emerging cyberwarfare threats," said Gurmeet Kanwal, a retired Army brigadier general and director of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, based here.
"No single agency in India is charged with ensuring cyber and information technology security," he said. "A nodal agency must be created to spearhead India's cyberwar efforts under a national cybersecurity adviser, who should report directly to the national security adviser.
"The armed forces must be part of the overall national effort from the very beginning, so that emerging tactics, techniques and procedures can be incorporated into doctrine and training," Kanwal said.
The chances of India suffering a cyber attack are high, a senior Army official said, adding that a majority of India's weapons, network-centric systems and equipment are digital. The Indian government is assessing the threat on a platform-by-platform and case-by-case basis.
But there is some dispute among analysts here about the extent that cyberwar threatens Indian assets, including nuclear assets.
"India does face a major threat from cyberwarfare, which will be used in tandem with conventional [warfare] or as a stand-alone form in the future," said Rahul Bhonsle, another retired Army brigadier general and a defense analyst here.
"This is one of the main components of the overall asymmetric philosophy of conflicts adopted by the Chinese in 2000, when two Chinese Air Force colonels published the book, 'Unrestricted Warfare,'" Bhonsle said. "China has developed a substantial offensive cyberwarfare capability; thus, India is posed a challenge, and Defence Minister A.K. Antony has been highlighting the same in various forums, as well."
But Sanjay Pandey, CEO of Mumbai-based iSec Services, downplayed the possibility of cyber attacks.
"The threat to India as of now is limited to political [defacing government websites] and economical spheres," such as losing confidential information though spyware, or losing money through Internet banking gateways, he said.
"Causing any physical harm in terms of switching off power supplies or [nuclear] reactors is difficult, as use of the Internet, et cetera, is limited in India," Pandey said.
India and the U.S. in July signed a cybersecurity collaboration pact, setting out best practices for the exchange of critical cybersecurity information and expertise between the two governments through the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (U.S.-CERT).
CERT-IN is the government agency that responds to computer security incidents.
The agreement will allow the governments and broader cybersecurity communities in the two countries to coordinate work on a broad range of technical and operational issues.
Bhonsle said the role of the pact is limited and remains to be seen.
"This will no doubt benefit India in that the vast infrastructure and expertise that is available with U.S.-CERT will be shared by CERT-IN," he said. "Since sharing of information about cyber threats and challenges is also involved, it will function reasonably well. The obvious partner will be Israel ... but how cooperation will develop remains to be seen."
India Debates Cyber Threat - Defense News
