Bharat National Cyber Security Exercise (NCX) 2023

Context- Bharat National Cyber Security Exercise (NCX) 2023 has recently concluded with the goal of elevating cybersecurity preparedness of India to new heights.

Key Highlights 

• Bharat NCX was conducted by  National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Govt. of India in strategic partnership with Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU).  

What is cyber security? 

• It is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks through cyberattacks, usually aimed at assessing, modifying, or destroying sensitive information. extorting money from users using ransomware; or disrupt normal business processes.  
• Implementing effective cyber security measures is particularly challenging today as there are more devices than people and  more innovative attackers. 
• Common technologies used to protect these entities include next-generation firewalls, DNS filtering, malware protection, anti-virus software, and email security solutions.  

Types of cyber security threats 

• Phishing: This sends fraudulent emails that look like emails from trusted sources. This is the most common type of cyber attack.  
• Social engineering: This is a tactic used by adversaries  to trick people into revealing sensitive information. This can be combined with any number of  threats to make people more likely to click on links, download malware, or trust a malicious source.  
• Ransomware: This is a type of malware designed to extort money by blocking access to files or a computer system until a ransom is paid.  
• Malware: This is a type of software designed to gain unauthorized access to or damage a computer.  

What is cyber resilience? 

• Cyber ​​resilience refers to an organization’s ability to recognize, respond and quickly recover  from an IT security breach.
• Increasing cyber resilience involves creating a risk-oriented plan where it is assumed that  the company will face a data breach or attack at some point. 

Cyber Crimes in India 

• According to CERT-In, 1.3 million cyber security incidents will occur annually between 2020 and 2022. 
• The American cybersecurity company found that nearly 67% of India’s government and key service entities reported a 50% increase in disruptive cyber attacks between 2022 and 2023. 

Consequences of cybercrime 

• Cybercrime affects the economy, business and society and has far-reaching effects. 
• With more than 60% of the world’s population using the Internet, it is easy for hackers to find vulnerable people and attack them.  
• Financial losses and theft of intellectual property: Cybersecurity Ventures’ official cybercrime report estimated global costs at $8 trillion in 2023 and $10.5 trillion by 2025. 
  • This affects individuals, businesses and financial institutions, including supply chain disruptions, business continuity and sustainability, downtime and reduced productivity, etc.  
• Psychological effects: feelings of anxiety, depression and even trauma after cyberbullying and stalking.

Government response 

• Role of state governments: 
  • “Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.  
  • States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cybercrime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) who take legal action against offenders as per statutory provisions. 
• Role of the Union Government: 
  • The Union Government complements the initiatives of the state governments by providing advice and financial assistance under various schemes for their capacity building. 
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center (NCIIPC): It is an organization established and chartered under Section 70A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Amended 2008). 
  • It has been designated as the National Nodal Agency for Critical Information Infrastructure Protection.  
  • It aims to facilitate a safe, secure and robust information infrastructure for critical sectors of the country. 
• Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center (I4C): It aims to provide a framework and ecosystem for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to deal with cybercrime in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. 
  • “Joint Cyber ​​Coordination Teams” have been created under I4C to deal with complex jurisdictional issues based on cybercrime hotspots/areas involving all states/UTs to provide a strong coordination framework to LEAs. 
• National Cyber ​​Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in): This enables the public to report incidents related to all types of cyber crimes, especially cyber crimes against women and children. 
  • Toll free number 1930 has been launched to help you register online cyber complaints.  
  • Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, enables you to immediately report financial fraud and prevent fraudsters from extorting money. 
• CERT-In: It is a national nodal agency that responds to information security incidents as  they occur. 
• It was designated  as a national agency to perform the following tasks in the field of cyber security: 
  • Collect, analyze and disseminate information about cyber incidents; 
  • Predictions and warnings about cyber security incidents; 
  • Emergency measures to deal with cyber security incidents; 
  • Coordination of cyber breach response activities
  • Cyber​​Jaagrookta Diwas (first Wednesday of every month), focusing mainly on cyber crime and cyber security Concept and use of cyber hygiene in everyday life; 
  • Introduction to social networks; 
  • Electronic payments and safeguards; and 
  • placement of information/promotional posters/banners in the premises. 
• Cyber ​​​​​​​​​​​Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Center): It was launched to provide free tools to detect malware and remove such programs
• Cyber Crime Prevention against Women & Children (CCPWC):  Under this scheme, the Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to all states and universities to support their efforts in setting up cybercrime training labs, training and employment of junior cyber consultants. 
• Mission CSAI (Cyber ​​Security, Cyber ​​Forensics, Cyber ​​Education, Ethical Hacking): India and the United States have jointly affirmed their commitment to an open, safe, inclusive, secure,  interoperable and reliable Internet and continue to worked together on various cyber security issues, including preventing and  responding to cyber threats, promoting cybersecurity education and awareness, and measures to build a resilient cyber infrastructure. 

The way forward 

• Bharat NCX 2023 is a defining moment in India’s unwavering commitment to cyber security excellence and highlights the paramount importance of collaboration and sharing between government, public and private sectors. 
• It also had a strategic pathway for executive-level discussions on the cyber threat landscape, incident response and crisis management to address real cyber challenges.

Source: PIB

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