There are cybersecurity organisations in the country but no central body responsible for safety in the online space said the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC).

National Cyber Coordination Centre

Headed by National Cyber Security Coordinator:  Lt. Gen. Rajesh Pant (Retd.)

Objective: To help the country deal with malicious cyber-activities by acting as an Internet traffic monitoring entity that can fend off domestic or international attacks

• The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) is an operational cybersecurity and e-surveillance agency in India.
• It is jurisdictionally under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It coordinates with multiple security and surveillance agencies as well as with CERT-In of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• Components of the NCCC include a cybercrime prevention strategy, cybercrime investigation training and review of outdated laws.

Functions

• It will be India’s first layer for cyber threat monitoring and all communication with government and private service providers would be through this body only.
• The NCCC will be in virtual contact with the control room of all ISPs to scan traffic within the country, flowing at the point of entry and exit, including the international gateway.

Cyber-security bottlenecks in India

• India has no dedicated Cyber-security regulation and is also not well prepared to deal with cyberwarfare.
• India has formulated the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 which is not yet implemented.
• NCCC has been classified to be a project of the Indian government without a legal framework, which may be counterproductive as it may violate civil liberties and human rights.
• Some have expressed concern that the NCCC could encroach on Indian citizens’ privacy and civil liberties, given the lack of explicit privacy laws in the country.

Back2Basics: Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)

• CERT-IN is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defence of the Indian Internet domain.
• It was formed in 2004 by the Government of India under the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section (70B) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

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