HYDERABAD: India is the most attacked country in the cyber sphere, the National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen Rajesh Pant said on Tuesday. Pant was present at the inauguration of the Cybersecrity Centre of Excellence (CCoE) of Telangana on Tuesday. "We have 600 million internet users. India is the most attacked in the cyber sphere not because we don’t have good cyber hygience, it is the sheer number of users," he told reporters.
Pant, under the National Security Council Secretariat, coordinates with various agencies to work on cyber security measures. He termed ransomware as the most detrimental of all cyber attacks and talked about the problems faced during investigation of these incidents. "The biggest problem in cyber crime is attribution; you cannot trace back. The second is international agreements: other countries do not agree to share information," he said.
While reacting to reports of several email IDs of nuclear scientists and ISRO officials being accessed by hackers, Pant said that it was easy to do so. "For instance, there is a conference. As all attendees have to register, there will be a database of the attendees. The hacker can, therefore, can breach the conference’s server and get the details of the attendees," he said.
When asked how was the city police conducting facial recognition scans despite there being no law for the same, Pant said, "It is for your security. Whether the bill comes or not, security is more important. That is what I feel, and that is what a police official may feel."
JNTUH to start compulsory cybersecurity classes this yrMeanwhile, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad V-C and Principal Secretary of Industry and IT, Jayesh Ranjan, announced compulsory courses in cyber security across 300 colleges under the university from this year. “The content is ready. It would be a 60-hour module. We are deciding about the exams,” said Ranjan.
He added that there will also be a train-the-trainer programme. "The marks will not be added, but it is compulsory for everyone to pass in the subject," he said. Students will be taught about common threats such as malware, levels of attack including end point security, network security and tools like firewalls and so on.
State government inaugurates CCoE in Hyderabad
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the CCoE, a joint initiative of Government of Telangana and Data Security Council of India (DSCI), was inaugurated at Manjeera Trinity Corporate in Hyderabad. The new 6,000-sq ft centre will have a training room, space for sessions with industries and government departments, R&D centres and so on. CEO of CCoE, Sriram Birudavolu, said, "We aim at building awareness of various cyber threats and research measures to overcome them."