NEED UNIFIED NATIONAL STRATEGY TO TACKLE CYBERCRIME, STATES UNION MINISTER

Need Unified National Strategy to Tackle Cybercrime, States Union Minister
Charu Priya
Need Unified National Strategy to Tackle Cybercrime, States Union Minister
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy said that India needs to strengthen its defence against rising cyber attacks and also formulate a national strategy for reducing the risk of cyber crimes.
New Delhi, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy said on Wednesday that India needs to strengthen its defence against rising cyber attacks and also formulate a national strategy for reducing the risk of cyber crimes.
Reddy said that the government has taken major cyber security initiatives focusing more on central monitoring threat analysis and in promoting research and development in cyber security.

“The ministry of home affairs has started the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre to act as a nodal point in the fight against cyber crime. It will identify the research problems and needs of law enforcement agencies and take up R&D activities in developing new technologies and forensic tools in collaborations with academia and research institutes within India and abroad,” said Reddy.
The minister further said that the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre will coordinate all activities related to implementation of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties with other countries over cyber crimes.
National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen Rajesh Pant spoke about the challenges faced by various agencies in the field of cyber security. He said that ensuring coordination among multiple agencies handling different important cyber-related aspects, role of private sector, promoting awareness among individuals, businesses and the government are certain key challenges that will be addressed under the National Cyber Security Strategy 2020.

“We are ensuring that we have safe and secure cyber security environment in the country, all of you can do business in peace, and be rest assured about data, that is why data protection bill is required at the earliest. We were expecting Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019 to be introduced in last session of Parliament,” said Pant.

5 strategies for addressing cybercrime

1. Raising awareness
A comprehensive and sustained national cybersecurity education campaign is essential for raising public awareness of the risk and impact of cyber activity and the need to deploy basic protective measures on desktops, laptops, tablets, phones and other mobile devices. The explosion of connected devices — from smart refrigerators, lighting systems, heating and air conditioning, security services to autonomous automobiles — puts an exclamation point behind the importance of cyber protection for individual users and organizations of all sizes and levels of sophistication.
2. Leveraging trusted resources
Additionally, building, maintaining, scaling and updating an online source of information on how users of all levels of sophistication can establish and improve their protection profiles in cyberspace is imperative. Leveraging capabilities, such as those created in the United States by the National Cyber Security Alliance through Stay Safe Online or in the United Kingdom with Get Safe Online, to implement a comprehensive and sustained national education and awareness campaign is a fundamental component of any successful cybersecurity program. Current cybersecurity efforts, such as the Stop… Think… Connect campaign sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, are a good start. However, existing programs need to scale more broadly to accelerate positive change.
3. Building an economic framework
Simply purchasing every new tool or security product is not the answer. From the individual user to the small business to the large enterprise, it is important to make investment decisions for cybersecurity in a risk management construct that includes trying to secure the biggest bang for the buck. AFCEA International’s Cybersecurity Committee took a look at this issue and provides useful information to assist in the examination around the economics of cybersecurity. More information can be found here and here.
4. Working with invested partners
Improving our national and global capabilities to detect, prevent, mitigate and respond to cyber events through a joint, integrated, 24×7 public/private operational capability that leverages information sharing, analysis and collaboration should be a priority. To build a mature operational capability for cybersecurity, we should learn from how the National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leverage technology and data analytics to identify patterns and trends to issue early alerts and warnings as well as recommendations for potential protective measures.
5. Implementing a response plan
Implementing a National Cyber Incident Response Plan is essential to national and economic security. It should recognize the unique nature and risk presented by cyber events and provide a predictable and sustained clarity around roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders during thresholds of escalation. A strategic, yet agile, framework should be accompanied by operational playbooks that focus on critical infrastructure. These steps are necessary to achieve ground truth and situational awareness during a cyber event.