India amongst top 10 in global cybersecurity index: Vaishnaw at RS

New Delhi, March 28: The government has taken comprehensive technical and legal measures to address the menace of cyberattacks, Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

This statement was made Union Minister during the proceedings of the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Calling it a ‘big challenge,’ Vaishnaw said that the government is also creating awareness among people to face this challenge.

Vaishnaw said that India has a robust cybersecurity policy in place, and the government is taking meticulous steps for its careful implementation.

The Union Minister also informed the House that India's ranking in the global cybersecurity index has improved from 30-40 to the top 10 now.

Apprising the Upper House on the steps adopted by the government on the legal front, Vaishnaw said that the Parliament has passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, along with strengthening provisions in the existing IT laws.

Further, the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has provisions for punishment of cybercriminals, Vaishnaw added.

Highlighting the steps taken by the government with regard to the technical side, Vaishnaw said that the Union Home Ministry has created the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) to deal with cybercrimes in a coordinated and effective manner, which has yielded good results.

The Minister highlighted that India was able to thwart major cyberattacks during the G20 summit and Ram temple inauguration ceremony.

In a written submission, the Minister informed the House that the total number of cybersecurity incidents increased to 20,41,360 in 2024 from 15,92,917 in 2023 and 13,91,457 in 2022, as per the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In.

The government has also institutionalised a nationwide integrated and coordinated system to deal with cyberattacks in the country, he noted; which include the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) under the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) to ensure coordination amongst different agencies.

Under the provisions of Section 70B of the Information Technology (IT) Act 2000, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is designated as the national agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents.

National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) implemented by CERT-In serves as the control room to scan the cyberspace in the country and detect cybersecurity threats.

It facilitates coordination among different agencies by sharing with them the metadata from cyberspace for taking actions to mitigate cybersecurity threats.

Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK), a citizen-centric service provided by CERT-In, is the Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre and helps to detect malicious programs and provides free tools to remove the same. It also provides cybersecurity tips and best practices for citizens and organisations.

Under the provisions of Section 70A of the IT Act 2000, the government has established the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) for protection of critical information infrastructure in the country," Vaishnaw said.

- With inputs from news agencies