Cyber security challenges in India

Cyber security challenges in India

News: The Data Security Council of India released a study called ‘Bridging the Gap: Identifying Challenges in Cybersecurity Skilling and Bridging the Divide.’

About DSCI:
 It is a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection setup by NASSCOM in 2008.
 It is committed to making cyberspace safe, secure and trusted by establishing best practices, standards and initiatives in cyber security and privacy.

Cybersecurity in India:
 Cybersecurity refers to every aspect of protecting an organisation and its employees and assets against cyber threats.
 India, as a nation undergoing rapid digitisation across various sectors, is not immune to the increasing number and severity of cyber threats.
 To address these challenges, stakeholders in the ecosystem have implemented several initiatives to promote Cybersecurity in the country. For example, The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), set up by the Government of India, to provide guidance and support in the event of cyber incidents;
 Programs like Cyber Shikshaa, implemented by Microsoft and DSCI, to skilled professionals in the Cybersecurity domain and to generate awareness among people.
 Although the industry has ample potential to grow, there is still a deficit of skilled workforce to cater to the demands of the sector.

What does the study reveal?
 It aims to Analyse the demand and supply of skilled cybersecurity professionals in India, Identify technical and social factors contributing to the shortage of skilled professionals, and Explore solutions to address these gaps through CSR and a multi-stakeholder approach.
 The top three attacks that are expected to see substantial rise in the near future are phishing, smishing, and vishing attacks, followed by ransomware attacks and zero-day attacks.
 Phishing scams trick users into divulging sensitive data, downloading malware, and exposing themselves or their organisations to cybercrime.
 Smishing often involves sending bogus text messages and
 Vishing uses voice and telephony technologies to trick targeted individuals into revealing sensitive data to unauthorised entities.
 Zero-day attacks take place when hackers exploit the flaw before developers have a chance to address it.
 Three vital trends that will influence the cybersecurity demand are use of Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, IoT devices and excessive usage of digital platforms resulting in exchange of large amounts of data.

Which cybersecurity jobs are the most in demand?
 Cybersecurity Risk Analyst, Cybersecurity Analyst, and Penetration Tester are the most prevalent job roles at present.
 They constitute less than 5% of their company’s overall workforce.
 43% of corporations have women participation between 21%-40% of the overall Cybersecurity workforce.

Key Recommendations:
 Perform risk assessments at regular intervals.
 It is crucial to have Multi-stakeholder collaboration to map industry-relevant skills, and design and deliver skilling programs as per industry standards.
 Corporates can play a pivotal role [through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)] by incorporating and sponsoring Cybersecurity certification (addressing the certification gaps) as a part of their skilling initiatives.