CISO Trainings , Governance & Risk Management , Training & Security Leadership
How India Must Prepare for Nation-State Cyberwar
Former Naval Officer Mukesh Saini on Balancing Offense, DefenseTo counter nation-state cyberattacks, India needs to take cybersecurity beyond the responsibility of individual agencies, says former Navy officer Cdr Mukesh Saini, head of IT security at Essel Group.
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"CERT-In has a big role to play when it comes to making people more [involved] and aware [about nation-state attacks]," Saini says. "At present, there is no mechanism available to counter nation-state intelligence mechanisms. The agencies taking care of it have limited capability. As a nation, we need to find out what is getting attacked, what is under surveillance and develop a strategy rather than [having] a piecemeal approach of individual agencies."
India also needs to avoid concentrating only on an offensive strategy for a cyberwar. "Just having offensive strategy isn't helpful," he says. "If you have only sword and no shield, it will not be of much help. I feel CISOs are also part of the shield, and government must coordinate with them for developing shield from an industry point of view."
In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at the recent Fraud and Breach Prevention Summit in Mumbai, Saini discusses:
- Why cyber warfare is more potent than physical war;
- Why people awareness is important in cyberwar;
- Why a defensive strategy is as important as offense.
Saini, IT head at Essel Group, is a veteran naval officer with more than 30 years of experience in information warfare and cybersecurity. He was India's first national information security coordinator. He was also chief information security adviser to Microsoft.