Power grids easy meat for cyber rogues

NEW DELHI: India's power systems could be vulnerable to crippling cyber attacks on a scale that can have serious implications for national security and economy, an enquiry into the July 30-31 grid collapse that grabbed global attention has said.

Although cyber attacks have been ruled out in last month's grid collapse, destabilization of the energy sector could lead to a "cascading effect on national security and economy. It points out that main vulnerabilities are in transmission and distribution sectors.
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A well-delivered cyber assault can disrupt services to critical users like hospitals and metro rail systems and such an attack may choose to target distribution where the bulk of automation is evident.
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Cyber security: Imperatives for India

Cyber security must be considered as a key enabler for India’s economic growth and the government and industry efforts and initiatives should reflect this realization
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The phenomenal success of Indian outsourcing industry has positioned India as the global hub of IT and BPO services. In FY 2011, the industry aggregated revenues of USD 88.1 billion and is expected to grow revenues to USD 225 billion by 2020 – out of which more than 75 percent revenue will be on account of export of software and services. 
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The journey however has not been easy. Since the initial years, there have been serious concerns on the security of data in outsourced assignments.
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Today, the importance of data security for India is not limited to the growth of outsourcing industry. As a subject, it has far greater implications. Our dependence on technology as a nation is increasing - e-payments in India currently account for 35.3 percent of the total transactions in terms of volume and 88.3 percent in terms of value, card circulation - both credit and debit - was around 200 million in 2010..............

Also, India is expected to be the third largest Internet user base by 2013 in the world. Considering the power of the web, the Government is investing USD 10 billion in various e-Governance projects – the Government policies are relying on technology to solve governance, corruption, service delivery and financial inclusion issues. In addition, businesses are leveraging technology to transform their business models and Defense and Police agencies are making strategic use of technology to modernize.

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In such a scenario, it is essential for us as a country to comprehensively understand the threats associated with the use of technology and operating in ‘cyberspace’- which is emerging as a fifth domain after land, sea, air and space that has no geographical boundaries and cuts across jurisdictions. These threats range from petty cyber crimes impacting an individual to sophisticated cyber attacks impacting national security by affecting economy, public safety or citizens’ lives. The number of cyber attacks and crimes are rising globally and India is no exception. There have been cyber attacks on PMO, CBI website, T3 terminal, etc. Stuxnet, the deadliest attack vector that has been designed so far, that destroyed a nuclear reactor in Iran has reportedly infected systems in India. There is an increase in the number of cyber crimes registered under the Information Technology Act 2000. 

In the cyberspace, we must defend ourselves against international syndicates, terrorists, rogue nation states, competitors and disgruntled insiders, who operate from anywhere in the world and exploit vulnerabilities in IT systems to achieve their motives, without getting traced. What makes their job easier is the availability of information about such vulnerabilities on the Internet.

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There are numerous challenges in cyber security. From a national security perspective, security of critical information infrastructure (CII) is a top priority of the government. National Security has traditionally (for air, land and sea) been the sole responsibility of the governments. But as the world has moved into the information age, with increased dependence on information infrastructure for production and delivery of products and services, the new responsibility of securing the CII against the rising number of cyber attacks has come within the ambit of national security. 
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The second challenge is of coordination and cooperation at both - the national and international level. At the national level, there is currently lack of a comprehensive framework to ensure coordinated response and recovery, intelligence and information sharing mechanism, clarity in the role of different government agencies, involvement of state governments, and specified role of government and industry in PPP models. At the international level, there is absence of cooperation across jurisdictions to track cyber criminals and norms to address cyber security requirements, making it difficult for the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to bring cyber criminals to justice.

Third and one of the most important challenges in cyber security is poor awareness and education about cyber security threats and the need to follow best practices, across different levels – ranging from school children to top government officials / top management.
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New Technologies pose challenge to investigating agencies

Investigation agencies probing cyber crimes in the country face major challenges with emergence of new technologies like cloud computing, mobile applications and wireless technology, to which terror outfits have access, a top NIA official said here today.
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Use of advanced technology by such terror and radical groups, most of whom have cyber experts,has made it difficult for investigating agencies to trace locations of the masterminds. 

Collection of evidence has become difficult as most internet servers are located outside the country. Of the 13 internet servers, nine are located in US. 
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Outfits like Indian Mujahuddin used to send e-mails before each attack. But till date the origin of a single mail has not been traced correctly. That means they are good in technology........

Proliferation of social networking sites, mobile applications and voice over internet protocol also posed challenges. IP spoofing, phishing, pharming have also become more advanced. 

The internet and IT are having great impact on our lives and lifestyles. At the same time they pose challenges which are mostly legal and social.

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Cyber Security Challenge Not Interested In Offensive Skills

Cyber Security Challenge director says the focus is on defence skills, not offensive expertise....


The government-backed Cyber Security Challenge will not be looking for those with cyber attack skills, despite MPs calling on intelligence services to increase their offensive work.......

Offensive capabilities include things like network penetration and malware creation, skills which are in demand from government contractors,  but the Challenge, which was launched two years ago in a bid to fill the growing skills gap in the security industry, will solely look at identifying and nurturing defensive skills.......

Our focus is on ensuring that the talent pool for those employing cyber security experts to defend our systems is well stocked. There is an urgent need to attract more skilled professionals into the cyber security profession. A purely offensive skills set is not something the Challenge was set up to identify..........

The  perspective of Cyber Security Challenge is to find more informed defenders. We focus on the  skills needed to spot vulnerabilities, defend networks, and extract and analyse complex forensics information..........


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Hackers who cracked CERN's computer system train Indian officials

Two cyber security experts, who claimed to have cracked the security code of IT systems involved in the discovery of 'God Particle', today conducted training sessions for Indian government officials.

"The projections show there is going to be lot of manufacturing in the India. Lot of software will be involved in it. We are here to create awareness among people on probable vulnerabilities in the cyber system," ethical hacker Chris Russo told PTI..............

Next era of wars is not going to be of bomb, gun and shells. It will be led by cyber warfare where most attack will be on nation's secret data. The idea to conduct such program evolved after seeing increase in cyberattack on India...............


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Cost of Cyber Attacks are Skyrocketing

If your company were hit with a cyber attack today, how much would it cost? The entire bill -- including costs from regulatory fines, potential lawsuits, damage to your organization's brand, and hardware/software repair, recovery and protection?

It's a question you can't ignore, as the costs of online attacks are skyrocketing. According to a 2011 study by the Ponemon Institute, the cost of cybercrime in the US could range from $1.5 million to $36.5 million annually...........

Cyber attacks, often in the form of data breaches and network intrusions, can impact operations, frequently result in lost productivity, legal expenses, third party liabilities, exposed intellectual property, and damage to a firm's reputation.............................

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