{"id":6239,"date":"2022-06-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/20-06-2022\/critical-information-infrastructure-cii\/"},"modified":"2022-06-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T00:00:00","slug":"critical-information-infrastructure-cii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-06-2022\/critical-information-infrastructure-cii","title":{"rendered":"Critical Information Infrastructure (CII)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Recently, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has declared IT resources of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and UPI managing entity NPCI as <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>\u2018critical information infrastructure (CII)\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Critical Information Infrastructure (CII)<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Definition:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Information Technology Act of 2000<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> defines \u201cCritical Information Infrastructure\u201d as a \u201ccomputer resource, the incapacitation or destruction of which shall have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health or safety\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Power of the Government:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The government, under the Act, has the power to declare any data, database, IT network or communications infrastructure as CII to protect that digital asset.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Violation:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Any person who secures access or attempts to secure access to a protected system in violation of the law can be punished with a jail term of up to 10 years.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Why is CII classification and protection necessary?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">IT resources form the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>backbone<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> of countless critical operations in a country\u2019s infrastructure, and given their <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>interconnectedness<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, disruptions can have a cascading effect across sectors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">An <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>information technology failure<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> at a power grid can lead to prolonged outages crippling other sectors like healthcare, banking services.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Global:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In 2007, a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>wave of denial-of-service attacks<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, allegedly from Russian IP addresses, hit major Estonian banks, government bodies, ministries and parliament, and media outlets.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It was cyber aggression of the kind that the world had not seen before.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It came in the wake of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Estonia\u2019s decision to move a memorial to the Soviet Red Army to a location of less prominence<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The attacks played havoc in one of the most networked countries in the world for almost three weeks.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Since then CII protection gained prominence world over.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>India:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In October 2020, as India battled the pandemic, the electric grid supply to Mumbai suddenly snapped hitting the mega city\u2019s hospitals, trains and businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Later, a study by a US firm that looks into the use of the internet by states, claimed that this power outage <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>could have been a cyber attack<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, allegedly from a China-linked group, aimed at critical infrastructure.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The incident <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>underlined the possibility of hostile state and non-state actors<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> probing internet-dependent critical systems in other countries, and the necessity to fortify such assets.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC)<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Nodal Agency: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Created in January 2014, the NCIIPC is the nodal agency for taking all measures to protect the nation\u2019s critical information infrastructure.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Mandate: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It is mandated to guard CIIs from \u201cunauthorised access, modification, use, disclosure, disruption, incapacitation or distraction\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Function: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It will monitor and forecast national-level threats to CII for policy guidance, expertise sharing and situational awareness for early warning or alerts. The basic responsibility for protecting the CII system shall lie with the agency running that CII.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>In case of threat: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In the event of any threat to critical information infrastructure the NCIIPC may call for information and give directions to the critical sectors or persons serving or having a critical impact on Critical Information Infrastructure.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong><u>What are the reasons for increasing Cyber attacks?<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Adverse relations with China:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> China is considered one of the world leaders in information technology. Therefore, it is expected to have capabilities to disable or partially interrupt the information technology services in another country.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Asymmetric and covert warfare:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> Unlike conventional warfare with loss of lives and eyeball to eyeball situations, cyber warfare is covert warfare with the scope of plausible deniability, i.e. the governments can deny their involvement even when they are caught. Therefore, cyber warfare has increasingly become the chosen space for conflict between nations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Increasing dependency on technology:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> As we grow faster, more and more systems are being shifted to virtual space to promote access and ease of use. However, the downside to this trend is the increased vulnerability of such systems to cyber-attacks.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong><u>Government steps to ensure Cyber Security<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Institutional Structure:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> India has a well-organised structure to regulate and strengthen the national information technology systems across the country. This includes the National Cyber Security Council as well as Computer Emergency Response Team \u2013 India (CERT-In).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Banning of potentially unsafe apps:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> Recently, India had banned many apps (mostly of Chinese origin), which were found to be unsafe for usage by the Indian citizens. The apps were allegedly transferring data to the servers located outside India and did not have proper safeguards to ensure that the private data of Indian citizens was protected from unauthorised access.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Personal Data Protection Bill:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> The bill mandates strengthening of data infrastructure by the private companies to safeguard the data of individuals. Therefore, there is a focus on including the private companies in the ambit of data protection, rather than restricting it to the government only.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Upcoming Cyber Security Strategy:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> Cyber Security Strategy aims to prepare a comprehensive document on preparing for and dealing with the cyber-attacks and securing the cyberspace in the country. For e.g. the strategy identifies three stages in the arena of cyber-attacks:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Pre attack or Preparatory Phase:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> In this stage, the systems\u2019 gaps are identified and they are plugged in. The focus is on strengthening the defence mechanism and the firewalls and keeping the system up to date so that any potential threat is averted and the system is not compromised.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>During the Attack:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> At the time of the attack, the focus is on stopping it as soon as possible and minimising the damage to the system. Also, it is to be ensured that the critical assets and data are not lost to the attack. When the attackers have been pushed out of the system, the focus shifts to restoring the services so that the consumers do not face long outages.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Post-Attack Phase:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> After the attack is over and the system is restored to normalcy, the focus is on identifying the loopholes or gaps in the system, understanding how the reaction could have been more swift and creating Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) in case of similar future attacks.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong><u>Challenges with Cyber Security<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Low digital literacy among the general public:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> The general level of awareness in India about internet etiquette is low. It is often reported that people are duped easily by click-baiting them into clicking interesting content, which often has malware attached to itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Vulnerable points in the system:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> There is a need to find and address the vulnerable points in the system, which might allow unauthorised entry into the system. For e.g. it is expected that the sensitive nuclear data is protected by heavy encryption, but the users may be vulnerable to human errors while accessing the systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>State-sponsored Cyber Attacks:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> The problem with such state-sponsored attacks is the unlimited funding received by the hackers to break into the foreign systems. This means that to counter such threats from China or other countries, we need to allocate sufficient resources, which can proportionately deter the systems from being compromised.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong><u>Way Ahead<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Increased awareness and monitoring:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> In the era of cyber wars, the only thing which has the potential to prevent vulnerability is information control. There is a need to enhance the general awareness levels of the government installations as well as the general public to counter such threats.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Strengthening the policy and ecosystem:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> The need of the hour is to come up with a futuristic National Cyber-Security Policy which allocates adequate resources and addresses the concerns of the stakeholders.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Pre-empting the cyber-attacks:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> There is a need to invest in the right tools and technologies apart from the human resources, which can predict and detect the cyber attacks early, so that preventive steps could be taken while the time is still on our side.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Capacity Building:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> Unlike other sectors requiring huge machinery and equipment, information technology is one sector which is highly dependent upon the skill level of human resources more than anything else.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Continuous Testing:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> There is a need to conduct regular and frequent checks of the existing system by bringing in ethical hackers and other experts on board so that if there are chinks in the system, they can be addressed swiftly before they are exploited by the hackers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Partnership with the private sector:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> There is a need to collaborate and cooperate in erecting defences against outside intruders, who try to gain unauthorised entry into the system.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Classification and prioritisation of the assets:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> Although all sectors are important and need to be protected from outside intrusion, there is a need for classification of assets and systems in such a way that the core systems have multiple layers of protection. This includes power and energy systems, which might lead to a cascading effect on the economy as the supply of power is critical for the proper functioning of the dependent systems.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><strong>Sharing the Best Practices:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"> Cyber systems are extensive in nature. Also, they are staggered across the spectrum. Therefore, it makes sense to collate the experience of the different entities together to form a comprehensive knowledge base, which can be utilised in case of future incidents.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">: <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-what-is-critical-information-infrastructure-who-protects-it-7978951\/#:~:text=The%20government%2C%20under%20the%20Act,to%20protect%20that%20digital%20asset\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\">IE<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News Recently, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has declared IT resources of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and UPI managing entity NPCI as \u2018critical information infrastructure (CII)\u2019. Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) Definition:\u00a0 The Information Technology Act of 2000 defines \u201cCritical Information Infrastructure\u201d as a \u201ccomputer resource, the incapacitation or destruction of which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[114,26],"class_list":["post-6239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-cyber-crime-security","tag-gs-3"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/6962741Screenshot_6.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}