How Prepared Is India For A Cyberwar?

In order to retain a competitive national security advantage, there has to be coordinated endeavour of the government and the private sector to work on cyber security and Al (artificial intelligence) technologies, argues VAISHALI BASU SHARMA

- Vaishali Basu Sharma

Startling revelations about Chinese hackers targeting critical Indian utility infrastructure has once again put the spotlight on the nation's cyber defences. In late February this year, a US-based private cybersecurity firm- Recorded Future's threat research arm, Insikt Group, detailed a campaign conducted by a China-linked cyber threat activity group, RedEcho, targeting the Indian power sector. It stated, “Since early 2020, Recorded Future's Insikt Group observed a large increase in suspected targeted intrusion activity against Indian organisations from Chinese state-sponsored groups. From mid-2020 onwards, Recorded Future's midpoint collection revealed a steep rise in the use of infrastructure tracked AXIOMATICASYMPTOTE, which encompasses ShadowPad command and control (C2) servers, to target a large swathe of India's power sector.

According to them Ten distinct Indian power sector organisations, including four of the five, Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs) responsible for the operation of the power grid through balancing electricity supply and demand, have been identified as targets in a concerted campaign against India's critical infrastructure.

The report claimed that the hackers were backed by Chinese state entities, linking them to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese Ministry of State Security. India's Power Minister R K Singh acknowledged that attempts were made by China, but added India's defence against cyber-attack is strong. These were probing attacks in December, January, and February. They did not succeed. But we are aware.