Cyber threat
NEWDELHI:From getting a birth certificate to filing a police complaint to getting a passport, driving license, or depositing taxes, the government plans to make every service go online in the next five years.
As communications & IT secretary, R Chandrashekhar is playing a key role in the rollout of the $6-billion national e-governance plan. But his job becomes more challenging as departments become computerised.
He talks about measures to thwart cyber attacks from countries such as China, e-governance and the government’s plans to maintain India’s competitiveness in the global IT market.
What is the government doing to thwart cyber attacks on it’s IT infrastructure emanating from countries like China? Are we prepared for a large-scale cyber attack?
Yes, we are taking several steps. A crisis management plan has already been communicated to all government departments and private organisations. Secondly, we have framed some strict guidelines on security standards and practices that need to be adopted by governments, when they implement egovernance IT contracts.
Thirdly, we have also prescribed some elaborate measures in respect of critical organisations, both in private and public sector. There is a base level security which is advised by the CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team-India ) to all. The government, under the IT Act, is also going to form a separate agency to protect critical information infrastructure.
But the agency will not be under DIT (department of IT), because there are larger security considerations. It is yet to be formally framed. Of course, CERT-IN, which is a part of DIT, will continue to provide guidance to all.
What is the government doing to put the IT industry back into traction after a slowdown last year?
For the first time in history, the Indian IT industry witnessed a slow growth of 6% last year. We have been accustomed to 36% growth rates. But the slowdown was triggered by the global slowdown . Now, we’ve bounced back into action. The growth is happening because India remains competitive.
Government’s effort is to continue that growth momentum. Still there are challenges. Many countries are trying to catch up in the IT space, especially the south east Asian economies.
Then there are bigger challenges from countries such as China. The country is putting a lot of emphasis on English language training. So, India can’t afford to become complacent.
What are the steps that the government is taking to ensure that India does not become incompetitive in coming years?
We are doing a couple of things. We want to spread the growth to tier-II and tier-III towns where the costs are lower. The higher-end activities in the office chain may continue to remain in tier-I towns.
The routine operations such as call center outsourcing and back office operations can move to smaller towns. It will benefit the companies. It will put less stress on the infrastructure of bigger cities. It will also boost development in small towns.
As communications & IT secretary, R Chandrashekhar is playing a key role in the rollout of the $6-billion national e-governance plan. But his job becomes more challenging as departments become computerised.
He talks about measures to thwart cyber attacks from countries such as China, e-governance and the government’s plans to maintain India’s competitiveness in the global IT market.
What is the government doing to thwart cyber attacks on it’s IT infrastructure emanating from countries like China? Are we prepared for a large-scale cyber attack?
Yes, we are taking several steps. A crisis management plan has already been communicated to all government departments and private organisations. Secondly, we have framed some strict guidelines on security standards and practices that need to be adopted by governments, when they implement egovernance IT contracts.
Thirdly, we have also prescribed some elaborate measures in respect of critical organisations, both in private and public sector. There is a base level security which is advised by the CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team-India ) to all. The government, under the IT Act, is also going to form a separate agency to protect critical information infrastructure.
But the agency will not be under DIT (department of IT), because there are larger security considerations. It is yet to be formally framed. Of course, CERT-IN, which is a part of DIT, will continue to provide guidance to all.
What is the government doing to put the IT industry back into traction after a slowdown last year?
For the first time in history, the Indian IT industry witnessed a slow growth of 6% last year. We have been accustomed to 36% growth rates. But the slowdown was triggered by the global slowdown . Now, we’ve bounced back into action. The growth is happening because India remains competitive.
Government’s effort is to continue that growth momentum. Still there are challenges. Many countries are trying to catch up in the IT space, especially the south east Asian economies.
Then there are bigger challenges from countries such as China. The country is putting a lot of emphasis on English language training. So, India can’t afford to become complacent.
What are the steps that the government is taking to ensure that India does not become incompetitive in coming years?
We are doing a couple of things. We want to spread the growth to tier-II and tier-III towns where the costs are lower. The higher-end activities in the office chain may continue to remain in tier-I towns.
The routine operations such as call center outsourcing and back office operations can move to smaller towns. It will benefit the companies. It will put less stress on the infrastructure of bigger cities. It will also boost development in small towns.
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