Cybersecurity landscape in India is rapidly increasing day-by-day as businesses are looking at state-of-the-art innovative tools or software to safeguard themselves from cyberattacks and threats. However, India is among the top three countries in terms of the highest number of internet users in the world after the USA and China. Unlike the rest of the world, the country’s cybersecurity needs are also not different but there are a host of areas that require a unique approach.

Considering a report from Symantec, India positions third in the world when it comes to phishing and malware attacks after the US and China. Recently, India’s largest nuclear power facility, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), faced a malware attack. This latest incident leaves the country is still ill-equipped to deal with cyberattacks.

Taking the previous cyber breaches and attacks, a NITI Aayog report found that in most of the cases breaches featured hacking, over half of breaches, nearly 51%, comprised malware, and 81% of the hacking-related breaches leveraged either stolen or weak passwords. The report further reveals that 24% of breaches affected the financial organization, 15% involved healthcare organizations, 12% public sector entities, while Retail and Accommodation combined to account for 15% of breaches.

Now the India government has taken a step forward for securing the network and making the internet a safer place for businesses as well as citizens. In this move, the government is going to unveil the national cybersecurity policy in January 2020. This step will help the government to reach its US$5 trillion economic goals. However, according to National Cybersecurity Coordinator on cyber policies, Rajesh Pant, the most important requirement for internet safety is increased effective coordination between ministries that are overseeing various aspects of cybersecurity, proper critical infrastructure protection, and public-private partnership.

Cybersecurity Strategies in the World

Today, governments and organizations worldwide are in the face of augmenting numbers of cybersecurity incidents. That is why they are turning their focus on how to manage cybersecurity threats and how to deal with the aftermath of cyber incidents.

The United States is one of the countries that is experiencing a large number of cyberattacks each year. That is the reason around 58% of the cybersecurity companies are located there and trying to find new ways to tackle the latest attacks. Last year in September, the White House released a new cybersecurity strategy, giving government agencies and law enforcement partners a greater ability to reply to cybercrime and nation-state attacks.

The new strategy consists of four main pillars: Protect the American People, the Homeland, and the American Way of Life; Promote American Prosperity; Preserve Peace through Strength; Advance American Influence.

A European country Estonia, the northern-most of the three Baltic states with a population of 1.3 million, is one of the most digitalized countries in the world and known for its e-governance. In the country, all government services are delivered online, as well as 99.6 percent of the banking transactions are done digitally. All the schools have been digitized and exams, homework, and attendance are available at the click of a mouse.

In the 2018 Parliamentary elections, 28 percent of people voted online. Estonia had released its national cybersecurity strategy in 2008 that recognized the interdisciplinary nature of cybersecurity and the need for coordinated action in the area.