Cyber Security and Threats in Modern World.
Hello readers,Jai Hind,I'm Rohit and the blog is about CyberSecurity and the threats in Modern World.
"The Internet is a prime example of how terrorists can behave in a truly transnational way; in response, States need to think and function in an equally transnational manner".
- Ban Ki-moon(Former UN General).
INTRODUCTION
Cyberthreat is an amorphic change in the nature of threats that is capable of convulsing the economic and social order of the world. These threats are hard to detect and difficult to investigate because of their anonymity. Since the Internet has developed as an unregulated, open architect, the globally integrated transnational character of cyberspace has favoured the growth of cyberthreats.
Based on the perpetrators and their motives, cyberthreats can be disaggregated into four types.
1. Cybercrime
Cybercrimes are criminal activities carried out through a computer network, wherein a computer might be the target or used in the commission of an offence.
The voluminous, expansive use of the Internet has led to a large online population, not only exposing many people and businesses to cybercrimes but also causing several vulnerabilities, including towering economic losses.
2. Cyber-Espionage
The act of using a computer network to gain unlawful access to confidential information from another computer is called cyber-espionage.
The most gripping instance of cyber-espionage in India was the hacking of Prime Minister’s Office website in 2011 and the breach of 12,000 sensitive email accounts of government officials in 2012.
Cyber-espionage cases are intensifying, where cyber-enabled illegal abstraction of data, intellectual properties (IPs) and trade secrets worth billions of dollars is being accomplished.
Source: Internet.
3. CyberWarfare
Cyberwarfare is the use of cyberspace to conduct acts of warfare against other countries.It includes attacks like distributed denial of services,defacing of websites and so on.
Cyberspace is considered the fifth dimension of warfare, after land, ocean, air and space.
More than 140 countries have developed or are in the process of developing their patenting and proficiency in cyberwarfare.
4. Cyberterrorism
Cyberterrorism, a term first coined by Barry Collin in the 1980s,is the convergence of terrorism and cyberspace. It involves an attack over a computer network(s) for the political objectives of terrorists to cause massive destruction or fear among the masses and target the government.
The notable characteristic of cyberterrorism is to use its economic competence to clinch inordinate effects of terror over cyber and real world through cyber-crafted means, like destruction of cybernetwork, denial of service attacks and data exfiltration.
THREATS POSED BY CYBERTERRORISM
👉 It is probably because of the saying, ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’.
Subsequently, different perspectives over the elemental constituents and definitions of cyberterrorism will be contemplated.
Cyberterrorism is based on specific objectives, such as:
♦️ Target CI(s) of the country, like air traffic, military networks, financial and energy systems, telecommunications and others, to cause physical devastation.
♦️Cause disruptions sufficient to compromise the industrial and economic operations of a country. A cyberterror attack thwacks a large part of the world population and causes monetary disorder and loss of data.
♦️Cause physical injuries, loss of lives, explosions, crashing of aircraft and other aerial vehicles, theft of technology and privileged information.
♦️Move beyond the realms of destruction and send a signal of ferocious disruption and fear to governments.
Cyberterrorism versus Conventional Terror Attacks
♦️Cyberspace offers anonymity, easy access and convenience to terrorists to reach the masses without much monetary expenditure. ♦️The ubiquitous cyberworld enables terrorists to launch cyberattacks having far-reaching impacts and causing staggering damages, more critical than physical attacks. ♦️Traditional terror attacks are restricted to the physical limits of the place of attack. Also, while people outside the territorial limits of the attack do read and observe such incidents, they do not get affected directly.
♦️ A cyberterror attack, however, encompasses the potential of affecting millions without any territorial limitations; at times, it is more enigmatic to find the perpetrator and trace the point of origin of cyberterror attacks.
♦️Cyberterrorism constitutes a low-cost asymmetric warfare element for terrorists as it requires fewer resources in comparison to physical terror attacks. The terror groups can inflict more damage to people and society with the same amount of funds. Thus, the benefit–cost ratio for a cyberterror attack is very high.
♦️After designation of the target, the cyberattack can be launched without any unwarranted delay and need for further preparation.
♦️The Internet enables cyberterrorists to initiate a cyberattack on any distinct part of the world.
♦️Unlike physical terror attacks, there are no physical barriers or checkpoints that block cyberterrorists in the execution of predetermined cyberattacks on designated targets.
♦️Likewise, cyberterrorism involves less risk than physical terrorism.
♦️Cyberspace provides broad avenues for disseminating terror organisation propaganda. It provides a larger audience for cyberterror attacks, whose impact goes beyond cyberspace to diverse systems.
INITIATIVES TAKEN IN INDIA
Information Technology Act: Cyberterror Law of India
The Information Technology Act (hereafter the Act) sanctions legal provisions concerning cyberterrorism.The Act enacts legislative framework over cyberterrorism. It provides for punishment, extending to life imprisonment, for cyberterrorism.
National Cyber Security Policy
The National Cyber Security Policy of India, released in 2013, aims to secure Indian cyberspace and concretise its resilience from cyberthreats in all sectors. It aims at developing plans to protect India’s CII and mechanisms to respond against cyberattacks effectively. It further focuses on creating a safe and dependable cyber ecosystem in India. The policy has facilitated the creation of a secure computing environment and developed remarkable trust and confidence in electronic transactions. Furthermore, a crisis management plan has been instituted to counter cyber-enabled terror attacks.The Parliament also amended the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act in 2019, empowering the NIA to investigate and prosecute acts of cyberterrorism.
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)
Section 70B of the Act(IT Act) provides for the constitution of CERT-In to maintain India’s cybersecurity and counter cybersecurity threats against it. The CERT-In is expected to protect India’s cyberspace from cyberattacks, issue alert and advisories about the latest cyberthreats, as well as coordinate counter-measures to prevent and respond against any possible cybersecurity incident.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND ANALYSES
Legislative Reforms
The Information Technology Act
India, as a fast-developing economy, aspires to control the global supply chain and internationalise its economy.126 This vision automatically attracts a big responsibility to protect cyberspace from possible cyberthreats, including acts of cyberterrorism. India, however, has been rather vulnerable to cyberthreat.
Administrative Reforms
Multiplicity of Organisations
Multiple government organisations handle cybersecurity operations of India, resulting in overlapping jurisdictions and operations among organisations. Some reformatory steps—like creating the National Cyber Security Coordinator under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and bringing central agencies under its control—have been adopted. However, it is important to provide the exigent task of cybersecurity exclusively to three central agencies, namely, CERT-In, NCIIPC and Defence Cyber Agency, with well-delineated and defined jurisdictional limits of operations and responsibilities.
Infrastructural Investments
Massive infrastructural investment is obligated to secure Indian cyberspace from possible cyberterror attacks. Considering the excessive use of cybernetworks during the global pandemic in order to avoid physical contact, many sectors of the economy have been thrown open to cyber-enabled terror attack.
Source: Drishti IAS.
Judicial and Educational Training
Centrally funded scheme to train judicial and legal officers on law and cyberthreats, with special emphasis on cyberterrorism, must be undertaken by the government. Cybersecurity must be introduced in the curriculum of schools and colleges; and more universities must provide opportunities to undertake specialisations in information or cybersecurity studies.
CONCLUSION
Cyberspace has developed as a decentralised network of communication, without any restriction over geographical boundaries of any country. Therefore, international regulation and cooperative cybersecurity framework is essential to deal with cyberterrorism effectively. Since the current framework is incapable of dealing with the menace,it is time to strengthen international law to equip it to deal with cyberterrorism. India must also think about reforming its legal framework or legislating exclusive cybersecurity legislation, which may provide provisions for cyberterrorism.
Thus, the government is constitutionally bound to protect India’s cyberspace from cyberthreats, including cyberterrorism.
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