Why Cyber Security is Required for Digital India Programme?

According to recent reports from the Union Home Ministry, the number of cyberattacks in the country has increased from 394,499 recorded in 2019, to 1,158,208, in 2020. While the previous year was full of crises and challenges in the health & business sector, that didn’t stop fraudsters and hackers from targeting the citizens of nations, especially a nation like India which is emerging in the world as a growing economy.

Not only are there the COVID viruses but there is also a digital mutating virus that is spreading across the world and is affecting the businesses of people and affecting them financially. 

Through the flourishing of digital services, the general people started to rely more on cashless digital payments and the increase in the use of smartphones and technologies has further made it tempting for hackers to comment on cyber frauds and cyberattacks. 

In the past few years, there has been an increased adaptation of digital activities and even the Government of India also introduced the Digital India Programme through which various services and welfare schemes such as Mahadbt, HOBPAS, etc were made available digitally. This also provided cyber attackers with a further opportunity to perform cyber attacks. 

The Government of India has realized the importance of cybersecurity and has already taken up many initiatives to secure their cyberspace but at the pace at which the digital transformation is taking place, the government must build a team of full-fledged Cyber professionals.

How can the Government Create Awareness About Cyber Security?

• The government needs to be ahead of the cybercriminals and set up such systems that will prevent all sorts of cyber attacks and also take support with established centers like Defence Cyber Agency, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre and Cyber Swachhta Kendra, etc which have been established with the main purpose strengthening cybersecurity in India.

• Inducting cybersecurity as a part of the education curriculum will also be a very good initiative that will help the country in the upcoming future and prevent large mishaps from happening. 

• The government also needs to create awareness because a huge number of people in the country are unaware of how to deal with or take cybercrime. Such awareness programs need to be set up by the government on a large scale to ensure that a maximum number of people know about cybercrime. The awareness should start at grass root level such as schools to generate awareness among the general public about cybercrime.