Resilience in the Digital Age

In an era where digital transformation is redefining how businesses operate, the threat landscape is evolving just as rapidly. Cyber resilience is no longer confined to the IT Departments of companies, but has moved to their boardrooms and c-suites as well. Cyber risks are not just operational hazards of businesses, but have become national and economic security challenges. 

Why is there a need for stronger digital security? 

According to State of India’s Digital Economy Report 2024, India is the third largest digitised country in the world in terms of economy-wide digitalization, and 12th among the G20 countries in the level of digitalisation of individual users. Furthermore, India’s digital economy accounted for 11.74% of the GDP in 2022-23 and is projected to grow to 20% of GVA by (Gross Value Added) 2029-30. 

As India moves towards digitization, storing sensitive data online, use of Artificial Intelligence, expansion of digital public infrastructure and increased connection to global systems, the threats from cyber have never been greater. According to information reported to and tracked by CERT-In, the number of cyber security incidents have gone up from 13,91,457 in 2022 to 20,41,360 in 2024. 

Cyberattacks today can erase years of brand equity, shut down services and expose companies to massive regulatory punishment. Hence, building resilience in this digital age is not just an IT concern, but a strategic business imperative. 

Institutionalised ways to deal with cyber-attacks 

The Indian government has institutionalised a nationwide integrated and coordinated system to deal with cyber-attack, including: 

• The National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) under the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) ensures coordination among different agencies during a cyber-attack. 
• National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) serves as the control room to scan cyberspace in the country and detect cyber security threats.
• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is designated as the national agency for responding to cyber security incidents under provisions of section 70B of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
• The Government has established the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) for protection of critical information infrastructure in the country through 70A of the IT Act, 2000. 
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) is a citizen-centric service that helps to detect malicious programs and provides free tools to remove the same.
• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible to deal with cybercrimes in a coordinated and effective manner.

From a policy perspective there is a need to define the role of responsibility of every ministry relating to cybersecurity. Coordination and strategic direction in this key domain of national security and fulfilling the demand for skilled professionals is critical. 

Organisational efforts for digital resilience 

Increased investments in strengthening cybersecurity and building skilled resources to combat the threats are an immediate priority. Effectively dealing with cyber incidents will imply adherence to processes and procedures, polices and basic cyber hygiene. While AI and GenAI features have enhanced the bandwidth of opportunities for cyber criminals, it also has features that will assist in identifying the vulnerabilities proactively and should be exploited for the same. Companies should also have a dedicated cyber security workforce and cyber aware board members to create a safe cyber ecosystem. Organisations have to build robust cyber defence frameworks that go beyond reactive security measures to embrace proactive risk management, resilience planning, and business continuity. 

The Way Forward 

While planning our journey ahead in this Amrit Kaal, it’s essential that we consider cybersecurity as an important factor which can have a singular impact on our national sovereignty. As conflict situations emerge in many parts of the world today, we as a nation are constantly engaged in battles to safeguard our sovereignty, security and privacy from intrusive and anonymous threats in physical domains and virtual domains. 

The threats in the cyber domain are continually evolving, hence, there is a need to be in constant engagement with all the stakeholders- the government, industry, academia and citizens.