Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Computer Security In India

Computer security is no more a luxury but an absolute necessity. In the present era, information and data is of extreme importance and value. We cannot allow strategic, sensitive, commercial and crucial data to be lost or stolen by cyber criminals.

From mere pranks, hobby and boasting, cyber crime has been transformed into a white collor and organised crime. Crime syndicates are actively engaging in identity theft, information stealing, data theft and so on. With the borderless and transborder nature of the crime, cyber crime is very difficult to pursue.

We have no computer security policy of India and we need one urgently. India has already been a victim of cyber attacks, cracking, cyber espionage, website defacements, etc and its cyberspace is highly vulnerable. India is facing a growing threat of cyber attacks and cyber crimes. In such circumstances, enacting strong cyber laws and establishing effective and robust cyber security is required.

National Security Policy of India is urgently required and Computer Security Policy of India must be an essential part of the same, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based Law Firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. Increasing Computer Security Readiness with Adaptive Threat Management is need of the hour, suggests Dalal. Further, Measurement of ICT Resilience and Robustness on regular basis is also required, suggests Dalal.

Further, another factor that is responsible for low level of computer security in India is that computer security research and development in India is lacking. We have a single and exclusive techno legal computer security research, training and education institution of India. The same is managed by Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB). It is managing issues like cyber law, computer security, cyber war, cyber espionage, cyber forensics, etc.

So on the fronts of policy formulation, legislation making and computer security awareness, India needs to take some immediate steps. The present indifferent attitude of Indian government and Parliament of India is doing no good to Indian cyberspace. I hope some concrete actions would be taken by Indian government in these directions as soon as possible.