Budget 2018: For success of Digital India, government should make provision for a strong cyber security system

In the last budget of his administration, President Barack Obama allocated $19 billion for cybersecurity for the fiscal year 2017. It was more than one-third increase from the previous year. The USA government made it clear that online attacks are a major threat to the highly digitised society of the country.

“Criminals, terrorists, and countries who wish to do us harm have all realized that attacking us online is often easier than attacking us in person,” said an official Whitehouse statement while announcing new budget allocation.

After terrorist attacks in Paris, in 2015, killing 130 people many countries strengthened their cybersecurity. UK government’s immediate response to the attack was to double its cyber security budget to more than 2 billion pounds ($ 2.3 billion).

The USA and the UK have the most robust cybersecurity systems in the world, thanks to proactive approach of theirgovernments.

On the other hand, India’s budget allocation is miniscule by any standards, even  if we don’t compare India with the USA and the UK.

Total budget allocation for cybersecurity in last five fiscal years since 2012-13 is only Rs 320 crore (about $50 million). And a large part of it went towards the administrative expenses of the organisations responsible for cybersecurity in the country.

This doesn’t bring confidence in the society that aspires to become a digital superpower by 2018, as per Digital India vision document.

What has saved India from serious online attacks till date is low level of digitisation in the country. All government programs such as e-governance, e-education, e-health are either non-starter or are moving at a slow pace. In the absence of digitisation of government data and services, online activity in the country has been very limited.

However, in last couple of months the government started promoting digital payments, thanks to scarcity of new notes post demonetisation.

Through advertisements and various incentive schemes the government is encouraging online transactions. In most of the countries private companies promote digital payments and the governments focus on cybersecurity. In India, the government is playing the role of private companies and no one is bothered about the security.

In the absence of a robust cyber security system in place, online transactions are vulnerable to cyberattacks and cyber thefts. What is being promoted as a solution may bring more problems rather than solving the issue. Digital payments through any mode – credit/debit cards, wallets or online banking – are at the risk of online attacks.

When NDA came to power, it announced Digital India program with a total investment of Rs 1,13,000 crore. The vision document of the program says that India would become a highly digitised society by 2019. However, there were no funds earmarked for cybersecurity. The vision document is silent on cybersecurity, even though it talks about making India world leader in digital space.

The role of the government in securing its citizens is beautifully explained by George Osborne, former chancellor of exchequer of the UK in his speech after terrorist attack in Paris. “There are certain things that only government can do, in cyberspace just as in the physical world.

Only government can collect secret intelligence.…Government has a duty to protect its citizens and companies from crime. Only government can defend against the most sophisticated threats, using its sovereign capability.”

In India, there is a national cyber security policy (NCSP) that was formulated in 2013. The policy includes promoting research and development in cybersecurity, public private partnership, creating a task force of 500,000 professionals by 2018, and developing dynamic legal system. However, not much has been implemented till date and the country remains to be a sitting duck in cyberspace.

It seems that the government has not realised that cyberattack is much more than hacking a website and that the cybersecurity goes beyond installing a firewall around websites.

It is high time that the government should realise that a robust cybersecurity system is prerequisite of digital society. All its digital initiatives would be vulnerable to online attacks if a strong prevention is not in place.

As digitisation grows more and more sensitive data of citizens and the government is stored online and the threat of online attacks grows significantly. In highly digitised countries like the USA and Europe, identity theft is the fastest growing crime.

A serious cyberattack would not be limited to damage to economy. Everything that is online such as electricity supply, air traffic control, nuclear power stations are target of attack. In case of a successful attack, human lives could also be lost.

The government should start implementing its own national cybersecurity policy. It should make provision of sufficient funds for cybersecurity in the budget for financial year 2017-18.