India is the second most cyber-attacked country in the world. As India has become one of the most data usage countries in the world, there has been a considerable increase in the cyber risk vulnerability, which could impact the GDP growth of the country, if not addressed

New Delhi: The government is working on a new cyber security policy that would address all the issues related to Cyber ecosystem like standardization, testing, auditing and capacity building. This was revealed by Lt. Gen. (Dr) Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator, Prime Minister's Office, Government of India.

He was speaking at the Sixth Cyber Security India Summit 2020 in New Delhi. According to Lt. Gen. Pant, the new policy expected to be announced within two to three months time.

"The most important aspect of the policy would be to address the cyber threat and synergies between various stakeholders," Pant said.

India is the second most cyber-attacked country in the world. As India has become one of the most data usage countries in the world, there has been a considerable increase in the cyber risk vulnerability, which could impact the GDP growth of the country, if not addressed.

"As an organisation, we are exposed to approximately 30 million people on daily basis, of which we collect date of about 3 million people and also we have to manage the data of 1.4 million employees for over 45-50 years. While we have to provide service and also are required to manage the data, it becomes extremely difficult for us to manage both. Moreso, when ownership and privacy of the data is concerned," said Vijay K Devnath, GM (I&S), MDMS & CISO), Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS), Government of India.

"The issue of who own the data and where should data be kept has become an important issue," said Shashi Dharan, Managing Director, Bharat Exhibitions.

According to Amit Sharma, Advisor (Cyber) and Director at the Office of Secretary, Department of Defence the Government of India has put in place various checks and balances to protect the data getting vulnerable to cyber leakage. "The ownership of data is very critical. There is a discussion happening around this aspect on the international level. Our government proactive on this front" said Sharma.

On the issue of CSO (Cyber Security Officer), Sharma said: "If this issue would have come up five years back, then we were putting make a headway. However, today at least every department of Government of India has a CSO."

Supporting Sharma's statement on CSO, R Shakaya, DDG (Security Assurance) DoT, Ministry of Communications said: "Besides the Government departments, CSO has become part of many private sectors also, like Banking and Telecommunication industries. However, a lot needs to be done on this front so as to reach a more secure cyber environment."