The Government said it would invest Rs 300 crore on cyber security this year.
It is looking at constituting a joint working group (JWG), which will also rope in private players, to check the menace of growing cyber crimes in the country.
“There were around 20,000 incidents of cyber crime till now this year and they have been growing. Last year, there were around 13,500 cases,,” J. Satyanarayana, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), told reporters here on Monday.
The country needs at least 5 lakh experts to protect cyberspace as against a few thousands currently working in this space.
To start with, four pilot projects have been identified including setting up of a testing lab, conducting a test audit, study of vulnerabilities and establishment of a multi-disciplinary centre of excellence.
The JWG will also work out a permanent mechanism for private-public partnership (PPP); identify bodies that can play a wider role in funding; and put in place an appropriate policy and legal framework to ensure compliance with cyber security efforts.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) and Ministry of Human Resource Development and the private sector may jointly establish a cyber security building framework.
“We have seen recent incidents of misuse of the social media to spread misinformation. This kind of phenomenon is something we need to know,” Shivshankar Menon, National Security Advisor, said. On security standards and audits, there is a suggestion to work jointly towards the establishment of an Institute of Cyber Security Professionals of India (similar to ICAI for chartered accountants). This could be an autonomous institution under the MCIT.
Industry bodies such as Nasscom, FICCI, CII and Data Security Council of India could be part of the working group, Latha Reddy, Deputy National Security Advisor, said.