National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval on Friday said that fighting cyber crimes will be difficult, if the world does not come together to fight against them.
Speaking at the fifth Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS 2017) here, he said, “We may not be able to completely wipe off this negative side but at least we can do a lot to mitigate them.”
He said all opportunities come with commitments and threats, there is nothing new about it, but cyber-crime is very unique, something that has never happened in this globe before. May be 10-15 years now, the life will become completely unmanageable without the support of each other because the cyber space is expanding too fast and in every walk of life.
One of the biggest challenges is also that no one has got a solution to it — there is no state or mode of governance, since you can do in virtual state – there are no barriers. Anybody who can get computer and get connected to the cyber space is a stakeholder, Doval said.
He said as India will also become 600 million internet users by next year and probably many more in the coming years with various schemes helping the internet penetration grow and similarly, in many geographies in the world, it is the right time to control and done in a way there is voice of everyone.
“The security of geographies also need to have better cooperation and they should have very specific cyber security structure which are able to do faster exchange of information, identify the defaulters, to see against them give support to law enforcement agencies so that the cyber norms and laws are adhered to,” he said.
Challenges ahead
The situations are going to be much more complex as we are entering into domain of artificial intelligence, machine learnings, IoTs, robotics and many others, which are going to create and compound these problems manifold, he said.
Therefore, “we have got to right now, think of the structures, systems, methodologies, inter-operability, governmental support, multi-lateral and bilateral cooperation, which we will be able to cope and see that a great asset that has come to the world really remains,” he added.
Speaking on the same lines, Electronics & IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The cyber-space is truly global, but it must be linked with local ideas, local views. The largest and most dynamic markets for digital services are in Asia and Africa. India has the largest download of Android apps, and the largest footprint of various digital and social media platforms.”
“It is just that the revenue and profit generated from these platforms be equitably reinvested in the largest markets to create more infrastructure and generate more job opportunities for the people,” he said.
He said to realise the vision of Digital India also safe and secure cyber space is a must.
“The government message is clear that an act of cyber-crime will be dealt with severely and no effort would be spared to ensure that highest priority is accorded to making India cyber space absolutely safe for an average person to transact,” Prasad added.