PAVAN DUGGAL
ADVOCATE, SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
HEAD, PAVAN DUGGAL ASSOCIATES, ADVOCATES
PRESIDENT, CYBERLAWS.NET
India today, has become ripe as a nation to come up with dedicated allocations of budget on cybersecurity. Earlier, cybersecurity was never given such an importance in the budget but owing to the historical events that have taken place in India, post demonetization, specific allocations on cybersecurity budgets is a sine qua non if any actions are to be taken against the massively increasing cybersecurity breaches. Not just specific allocations, but spending heads within different categories of cybersecurity spendings in the budget need to be allocated, so that there is more clarity on the appropriate financial support and various capacity building measures in this direction.
The 10% figure of allocation to cybersecurity in the entire IT Budget is extremely meagre. India is a different ballgame altogether, and if it has to become a digitally empowered nation and a global IT superpower that it aims to be, then there needs to be a bigger percentage figure allocated to cybersecurity, of the total IT Budget in order to be able to create a mechanism that will survive the growing attacks by state and non-state actors on the Indian Critical Information infrastructure. The need for more spending in India on cybersecurity is higher than the global average because of India’s high aspirations and hopes in the Digital India program. Cybersecurity is the foundation fulcrum and if that is not adequately addressed, the entire Digital India Program may be prejudicially impacted.
India needs adopt a ‘leapfrogging method’ rather than a traditional one. With emerging technologies like IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), Blockchains etc., spending needs to be done in the said emerging sectors, both the corporate and government level. By insisting on government departments on having CISOs in place, India can instantaneously put focus on the significance of cybersecurity.A hybrid approach needs to be taken by keeping in mind the existing technologies as well as putting focus on new technologies. As a growing digital power, India cannot exclude concentration on newly emerging technologies like IoT, blockchain and AI, as they are more critical and can help in becoming catalysts to further India’s growth.
The Author Pavan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Internationally acclaimed Authority and Expert on Cyberlaw and Cyber Security Law, Chairman of the International Commission on Cyber Security Law and President of Cyberlaws.Net can be reached at his email address: – pavan@pavanduggal.com and pduggal@vsnl.com. More about Pavan Duggal is available at www.pavanduggal.com
