There has been a 200 percent rise in cyber incidents in India in the last couple of months, but there is no evidence that the cases increased due to the tensions between India and China, Chief Information Security Officer in the Prime Minister’s Office, Gulshan Rai, said.
During an interactive session organised by payments company EPS in Mumbai, Rai said that offices typically have necessary security measures taken in, and urged people to be more careful about what they download and stick to verified applications itself.
“… there is no evidence as of now that the attacks have gone up due to the tensions between the two countries (India and China),” he added. He was responding to a query by a reporter that after the violent faceoff between India and China, there were a lot of reports that cyber attacks would increase on India’s infrastructure and banking services.
Rai said there are dedicated agencies which are monitoring the situation and preventing the attacks.Ties between India and China have hit a new low following the violent clashes in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, which left 20 Indian army personnel dead. India has also banned 59 Chinese apps citing security concerns.
In order to reduce incidents of fraud in banking, Rai suggested a method where the receiver of funds from online transfers is not able to withdraw the money for an hour.He said there is a need to overhaul cyber security architecture at banks because of the rapid changes in technologies, even though a significant amount of ground has been covered in the past.
In cases of critical infrastructure like refineries and power plants, Rai said it is a blessing in disguise that much of such facilities in India are not connected to the wider internet but eventually efficiency needs will force them to get connected and there will be a need for better security at such facilities.
