Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
According to a report by International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), an influential think tank, India’s offensive cyber capability is “Pakistan-focused” and “regionally effective”, and not tuned towards China.
Important points:
- The report has done a qualitative assessment of cyber power in 15 countries.
- Four members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
- Three cyber-capable allies of the Five Eyes states – France, Israel and Japan.
- Four countries viewed by the Five Eyes and their allies as cyber threats – China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
- Four states at earlier stages in their cyber power development – India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Assessment Criteria:
The methodology analyses the cyber ecosystem of each state and how it intersects with international security, economic competition and military affairs. The countries are assessed in seven categories:
- Strategy and doctrine
- Governance, command and control
- Core cyber-intelligence capability
- Cyber empowerment and dependence
- Cyber security and resilience
- Global leadership in cyberspace affairs
- Offensive cyber capability
National Technical Research Organisation
- National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), established in 2004, is under the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office and focuses on intelligence gathering.
- The agency specializes in multiple disciplines, which include remote sensing, data gathering and processing, cyber security, geospatial information gathering, cryptology, strategic hardware and software development and strategic monitoring.
- The National Critical information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), an agency under the control of National Technical Research Organisation, aims to monitor, intercept and assess threats to critical infrastructure and other vital installations from intelligence gathered using sensors and platforms which include satellites, underwater buoys, drones, VSAT-terminal locators and fiber-optic cable nodal tap points.
- NTRO has the same “norms of conduct” as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
Way Forward
- According to the report, India is a third-tier cyber power whose best chance of progressing to the second tier is by harnessing its great digital-industrial potential and adopting a whole-of-society approach to improving its cyber security.
- Also, the key is “political will” and “how India organises its intelligence agencies.” One of the “leapfrog opportunities” for governments to be more effective in cyberpower is “how they align themselves with other governments”.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT
