BENGALURU: The Narendra Modi government has created a cyber-security chief’s position under the Prime Minister's Office and has appointed Gulshan Rai, said a top official in the IT ministry.Rai, who has been heading the computer emergency response team at the department of electronics and information technology (DeitY), will now take charge as special secretary for cyber security, people familiar with the development told ET.Rai has been working since 1998 in the area of evolving legal framework to address issues arising out of cyberspace. He is also expected to head the national cyber coordination centre (NCCC) that the government is also setting up with a budget of Rs 1,000 crore. He was for a long time tipped to become the first national cyber security coordinator. Rai couldn't be reached for comments. DeitY has already posted a vacancy for the post of director general for Indian computer emergency response team.Cyber security is fast becoming a nightmare for the government even as its Digital India initiative will increase the relevance of the internet and expose the country to large cyber-attacks.Reported attacks on Indian websites have increased nearly five times in the past four years. Until mid-2014, more than 60,000 incidents were recorded, according to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.The National Association of Software and Services Companies has been requesting the government for the creation of such a position since 2012 when Nasscom's data security arm Data Security Council of India came out with a report calling for a national structure for cyber security.“One of our recommendation was that there should be coordination at the national level for cyber security matters. If the government has indeed made this appointment, then that recommendation has been fulfilled,” said Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO at DSCI. “Single coordinator for cyber security will help in promoting public private partnership in cyber security.”DSCI had also recommended the establishment of a cyber command within the defence forces, which should be equipped with defensive and offensive cyber weapons, and manpower trained in cyber warfare. However, there is no clarity on the creation of any such division yet.Experts believe that a special secretary for cyber security under the PMO will help India secure its digital assets in a better way.“Getting a special secretary at PMO is the right move,” said Prashant Mali, a Mumbai-based advocate specialising in cybercrime. “This should help the government create a vision and policy for fighting cybercrimes in India and handling cyber security in a holistic manner,” he said.