General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has emphasised the need for a national framework to combat cyber threats, which have been on the rise in the country.
General Rawat was delivering the inaugural address of the 14th edition of c0c0n, the annual cyber security and hacking conference organised by the Kerala Police, which formally got underway on Friday.
Cyber Security And Data Protection Law
While a National Cybersecurity Strategy is in the works, the country also requires a data protection law, he said because cybercriminals are increasingly using data as a weapon against national security in the post-pandemic age.
“We need to address emerging threats like drones, ransomware, internet of things devices, and the involvement of nation-states.”
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said
Digital Payments & Cyber Crimes
The rise of digital payments during the pandemic have instigated more complex cybercrime. Officials in government who deal with sensitive data are becoming major targets for cyber-attacks according to Rawat.
“Cybercrimes have gone up by almost 500% in India during the global pandemic. We need to consider the emerging threats from new technologies such as drones, ransomware, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and also the role of nation-states in such cyber attacks. The lockdown, which witnessed a deeper adoption of interconnected devices and a hybrid work environment, has increased our dependence on technology. This renders us digitally more vulnerable than ever before,”
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat