UPSC Express

What is Cyberwar?

• Cyberwar is a form of war which takes places on computers and the Internet, through electronic means rather than physical ones.
• With an increasing global reliance on technology for everything from managing national electrical grids to ordering supplies for troops, cyberwar is a method of attack which many nations are vulnerable to.
• In cyberwar, people use technological means to launch a variety of attacks.
• Some of these attacks take a very conventional form. Computers can be used, for example, for propaganda, espionage, and vandalism.
• Denial of service attacks can be used to shut down websites, silencing the enemy and potentially disrupting their government and industry by creating a distraction.
• Cyberwar can also be utilized to attack equipment and infrastructure, which is a major concern for heavily industrialized nations which rely on electronic systems for many tasks.

Challenges to India’s National Security:

• India’s reliance on technology reflects from the fact that India is shifting gears by entering into facets of e-governance.
• India has already brought sectors like income tax, passports” visa under the realm of e -governance.
• Sectors like police and judiciary are to follow.
• The travel sector is also heavily reliant on this.
• Most of the Indian banks have gone on full-scale computerization.
• This has also brought in concepts of e-commerce and e-banking.
• The stock markets have also not remained immune.
• To create havoc in the country these are lucrative targets to paralyze the economic and financial institutions.
• The damage done can be catastrophic and irreversible.

Challenges and Concerns:

• Some challenges and concerns are highlighted below :­
• Lack of awareness and the culture of cyber security at individual as well as institutional level.
• Lack of trained and qualified manpower to implement the counter measures.
• Too many information security organisations which have become weak due to ‘turf wars’ or financial compulsions.
• A weak IT Act which has became redundant due to non exploitation and age old cyber laws.
• No e-mail account policy especially for the defence forces, police and the agency personnel.
• Cyber attacks have come not only from terrorists but also from neighboring countries inimical to our National interests.