Unveils mascots at CySecK’s Cybersecurity month celebrations
Moots plan to form robust Cyber Security Policy to strengthen digitisation
Bengaluru: Karnataka state, under the leadership of Ministry of IT and BT, is celebrating for the first time cybersecurity month in October taking into account the need for becoming more vigilant against cyber-attacks at a time when India is going through massive cyber threat.
Inaugurating the event at Vidhana Soudha, Deputy Chief Minister and IT&BT Minister Dr.C.N.Ashwatha Narayana said there is an immediate priority for enhancing cybersecurity awareness and hygiene, not only among government but also among the whole citizen.
“Cybersecurity is gaining increased focus within the government in view of the rapid adoption of IT (Information Technology) solutions for delivering public services. Whilst this has many benefits the increased adoption of IT also comes associated with significant cyber risks,” said Deputy Chief Minister and IT&BT Minister Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana.
Cyber hygiene
Deputy Chief Minister and IT&BT Minister Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana also highlighted the fact in the present scenario as the digital transaction is expanding its scope on each passing day the cybersecurity has also become a subject of paramount importance.
Keeping this in mind, the government of Karnataka would soon come up with a relevant cybersecurity policy. The new Cyber Security Policy would be framed to address the needs of the citizens, industry, students as well as the state government,” said the Minister.
As part of the inauguration of Cybersecurity Month, Deputy Chief Minister and IT&BT Minister Dr.C.N.Ashwatha Narayana unveiled the mascots of cybersecurity. He further said as per an FBI report of US, the number of complaints from cyber-attacks has increased up to 4,000 per day, a 400% increase compared to before the pandemic.
“Apart from phishing attacks, there is a surge in malware attacks and ransomware attacks. Cybercriminals have launched thousands of “fraud portals” in the guise of collecting donation to the cause of coronavirus,” said Deputy Chief Minister and IT&BT Minister Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana.
Spike in cyber attack
According to a report by the FBI, India stands 3RD in the world among the top 20 countries in internet-related crimes. Apart from phishing attacks, defacement of websites and DDoS attacks have become prominent threats.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has also put out an advisory that explained about the coronavirus pandemic based cyber-attacks. The majority of the attacks are done via phishing emails, malicious advertisements on websites, and third-party apps and programs. Attacks on computers, routers, and unprotected home networks in the present work from the home situation are also on the rise, he said.
Bengaluru houses India’s IT hub and naturally will also be a favorite target of cybercriminals. Hence, it is important for government organizations to become more cyber aware. Cyber awareness among employees are the best defence against cyber risks in any organization.
National Cyber Security Co-ordinator Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Rajesh Pant joined the event through webinar as a keynote speaker. During his speech, National Cyber Security Co-ordinator Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Rajesh Pant spoke on the importance of cybersecurity and the threats to India’s critical IT infrastructure from varied sources.
Cybersecurity awareness
Prof. Narhari, IISc EECS Division Chairperson and CySecK Technical Committee Convener elaborated on the need for cybersecurity awareness for the government staff including bureaucrats and state government employees.
Dept. of IT, BT & S&T Additional Chief Secretary Dr E V Ramana Reddy, CID-Cyber Crime ADGP Umesh Kumar and Chairperson of Karnataka’s IT Vision Group Kris Gopalakrishnan were also present and spoke on the occasion. KITS Managing Director Meena Nagaraj, IAS made the closing remarks.
CySecK is the Karnataka state government’s CoE (Center of Excellence) in Cyber Security, housed in the IISc (Indian Institute of Science) campus, with IISc as the anchor institute and KSCST (Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology) as the implementation agency. CySecK was setup by KITS (Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society) of the Department of IT, BT, and S&T.
