India is looking at a holistic cybersecurity policy that will cover various verticals of potential attacks or situations, both internal and external, as it evaluates the policies rolled out by the United Kingdom and Australia, people familiar with the matter told HT.
The issue is also likely to be discussed at the sidelines of the ongoing quad summit being held in Melbourne. External affairs minister S. Jaishankar and National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt General (Dr) Rajesh Pant (retd), are among senior officials attending the summit.
According to people familiar with the matter, the National Security Council Secretariat, along with officials from the National Security Advisor’s office, recently held a meeting where they discussed expanding the ambit of the cybersecurity policy with experts.
The policy could be formulated to include sectors such as health, water and air. The focus will then be on identifying critical infrastructures, said lawyer and founder of Cybersaathi, NS Nappinai. “There is a need for a robust cybersecurity policy for the country,” she said. “The first step would be to identify critical infrastructure, followed by an assessment of threats and vulnerabilities and finally an action plan to counter these.”
According to the government website, the Australian Cyber Security Strategy launched on August 6, 2020, looks to invest $1.67 billion over 10 years “to achieve our vision of creating a more secure online world for Australians, their businesses and the essential services upon which we all depend”.
“It will be delivered through action by governments to strengthen the protection of Australians, businesses and critical infrastructure from the most sophisticated threats, action by businesses to secure their products and services and protect their customers from known cyber vulnerabilities and section by the community to practice secure online behaviours and make informed purchasing decisions,” a statement on the website read.
In the UK, the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) with dedicated funding of £860 million over five years ensures critical UK systems and networks are robust and resilient, improves cyber awareness and risk management amongst UK business, ensure members of the public know what they can do to protect themselves, and demands good cyber security in the products and services they consume