October is observed as ‘Cybersecurity Awareness Month’ and perhaps is the right time to deliberate on the importance of cybersecurity in achieving India’s digital vision.

‘New India’ is more digital, ambitious, connected, and self-sufficient. Its internet subscriber base has reached 795 million (as on December 31, 2020). The country offers a vibrant start-up ecosystem (30+ unicorns in 2021 and counting). The booming 5G ecosystem is witnessing many collaborations.

As the country embarks upon the next phase of growth riding on digital technologies, cybersecurity and privacy considerations become inevitable, and cyber risks must be identified and managed across levels (from enterprise and consumer to nation state).

According to a Nasscom report, despite the pandemic, organisations have continued their digital investments in areas such as AI, ML, cloud, and mobility. With employees working remotely due to the pandemic and growing digital connectivity, the attack surface will continue to expand. Ransomware, social engineering, supply chain, and multi-vector attacks are on the rise. In the future, we are likely to see more cloud-native, digital-native, and AI-native platforms, which could become easy targets if cybersecurity controls are not embedded in the development, deployment, and management stages of these platforms.

It is also important to foster cyber as a culture, empowering everybody in the organisation and value chain.

On the consumer side, internet, smartphones, and Internet of Everything (IoE) are fuelling India’s digital aspirations. India’s rise in digital payments is a story in itself. The government is also proposing to democratise online commerce via an Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) programme. So ‘Do people have adequate cybersecurity and privacy awareness?’ ‘Do people follow digital hygiene and best practices to safeguard themselves?’ The answer will mostly be “no”.

The pandemic has also accelerated growth in the education technology sector,where organisations must embed cybersecurity in their products and service delivery to build consumer trust.

Similarly, children and teenagers are hooked on to online gaming. Without adequate awareness, children could fall prey to cyberbullying, frauds, and exploitation.

All of these make cybersecurity awareness a key aspect in digital literacy mandates, school curriculum, and programmes.

From a national security standpoint, the extent of digital proliferation and connectedness has made sovereign borders porous, increasing exposure to threat actors, including nation-state actors. Thus, cybersecurity posture of our critical infrastructure (e.g. energy, oil & gas, utility, banking, telecom, etc.) , which is key to smart cities and digital India mission too, should be strengthened. Failing to do so could have wider ramifications that can go beyond enterprises and affect the society at large.

To create a safe cyber space, the entire ecosystem must work collaboratively, so the following points should be considered:

(i) A robust National Security Strategy that addresses issues related to data and privacy, cyber-crimes, and financial frauds; protect critical infrastructure; and promote collaboration, cyber audits, and 24*7 command & control; (ii) Adopting security, privacy, and resilience by design approach in digital adoption at an organisational level; (iii) Perceiving cybersecurity as a strategic business enabler for responsible governance; (iv) Increase in government awareness of cybersecurity measures at the central and state levels; (v) Public-private partnership that enables knowledge sharing; (vi) Focus on upskilling to create a diverse and cyber-aware workforce; (vii) Democratising cybersecurity and privacy literacy, and making it part of a basic education; (viii) Creating a robust innovation ecosystem to not only strengthen India’s cybersecurity capabilities but also deliver cutting-edge cyber solutions to the world.

For ‘new India’ to reach greater heights, we need cyber-responsible businesses, government, and citizens.

The writer is Partner, Deloitte India

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