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On Thursday evening, a significant <keyword id="22471557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-cyber-outage" source="keywords">global cyber outage</keyword> began, causing a massive disruption to Microsoft Windows users around the world. This event impacted users in countries including India, Australia, Germany, the United States, and the UK, with affected systems displaying the dreaded <keyword id="22469490" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blue-Screen-of-Death" source="keywords">Blue Screen of Death</keyword> (BSOD). This malfunction led to automatic system restarts or shutdowns, severely hampering productivity and operations across various sectors. The root cause, as identified by companies like Dell Technologies, was linked to a recent update from the <keyword id="19906883" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity" source="keywords">cybersecurity</keyword> firm <keyword id="20424191" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CrowdStrike" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="CrowdStrike" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="CrowdStrike">CrowdStrike</keyword>. The outage had far-reaching consequences, particularly for essential systems used by several airlines. In the US, carriers such as American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Allegiant, and Sun Country experienced operational disruptions. Similarly, in India, IndiGo and other airlines were affected. Beyond the aviation industry, the outage also disrupted banks, supermarkets, media outlets, and other businesses who are extensively reliant on Microsoft's cloud services. <h2>What is CrowdStrike?</h2>CrowdStrike is a leading cybersecurity company known for its advanced security solutions designed to protect against <keyword id="19973480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breaches" source="keywords">data breaches</keyword>, <keyword id="19955190" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ransomware" source="keywords">ransomware</keyword>, and <keyword id="19945689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyber-attacks" source="keywords">cyber attacks</keyword>. Founded in 2012 by former McAfee employee George Kurtz, CrowdStrike has become a critical player in the cybersecurity landscape, serving a diverse clientele that includes global investment banks, universities, and major corporations. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111858142" title="Global cyber outage: Microsoft users report &amp;#39;blue screen of death&amp;#39;; flights cancelled" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>At the heart of CrowdStrike's offerings is the <keyword id="21411329" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon-platform" source="keywords">Falcon platform</keyword>. This comprehensive cybersecurity solution uses a single sensor and a unified threat interface to provide real-time indicators of attacks, hyper-accurate detection, and automated protection. The platform is designed to correlate attacks across endpoints, workloads, and identities, effectively stopping identity-driven breaches in real time. The recent issues stemmed from an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor. This update reportedly caused the sensor to malfunction, leading to conflicts with Windows systems and resulting in the widespread blue screen errors. CrowdStrike acknowledged the error and has since been actively working on a resolution. The company assured users that there was no need to open a support ticket and promised to provide updates as they become available. <h2>CrowdStrike, Sony, and <keyword id="19910206" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="North-Korea" source="keywords">North Korea</keyword></h2>CrowdStrike is no stranger to the spotlight, having been involved in several high-profile cyber investigations. One notable case is the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, where a group called the Guardians of Peace, believed to be affiliated with North Korea, hacked into Sony Pictures Entertainment. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111856595" title="Microsoft outage – London Stock Exchange, banks and airlines across the world affected" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>GoP stole vast amounts of information and threatened acts of terrorism against movie theatres unless Sony cancelled the release of "The Interview," a comedy about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In this investigation, CrowdStrike discovered evidence that seemed to definitively connect North Korean players to the Sony hacking. <h2>The “Blue Screen of Death” explained</h2>The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is a critical error screen displayed on Windows operating systems when a severe system issue occurs, preventing safe operation. This error forces the computer to restart unexpectedly, often resulting in data loss. In the recent incident, the BSOD error message indicated that the PC ran into a problem and needed to restart, leaving users frustrated and businesses scrambling for solutions. While Microsoft has confirmed that the Azure outage has been resolved, the incident has brought a spotlight to the potential risks associated with heavy reliance on cloud services. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike has offered solutions on its members-only platform and continues to address the fallout from the outage.

Global Cyber Outage: What is CrowdStrike? How is it linked to the global Microsoft outage?

<ul><li>A global <keyword id="1571551" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Microsoft-outage" source="Orion">Microsoft outage</keyword> has impacted airlines, banks and other services.</li><li>The outage has resulted in disruption of flights from Indigo, SpiceJet and other airlines.</li><li>Here’s everything we know so far about the <keyword id="10387" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microsoft" source="Orion">Microsoft</keyword> outage.</li></ul> In what is emerging as one of the biggest tech outages, Microsoft’s services across the world have been impacted by Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors. This has impacted the London Stock Exchange, halted banking services, and grounded several airlines such as Indigo, SpiceJet, and more. The global outage has affected various Microsoft services such as Azure, Microsoft 365 and more. Amazon Web Services has also recorded some reports of outages. “We're investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services,” Microsoft said in a statement. "Crowdstrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” said George Kurtz, CEO, Crowdstrike. <div type="twitter" handle="IndiGo6E" handlename="IndiGo6E" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1814200437756641734"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="flyspicejet" handlename="flyspicejet" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1814194223052144749"></div> Air India has issued an advisory on X, saying “Our digital systems have been impacted temporarily due to the current Microsoft outage resulting in delays. We regret the inconvenience caused and request our guests to plan their travel accordingly.” The London Stock Exchange on Friday said that its news services were experiencing a global technical issue which prevented news from being published on its platform. The stock exchange was also experiencing technical problems publishing its spot and forward prices for currencies. A traveller in Hyderabad, flying through Indio posted on X that he had received a hand-written boarding pass. <div type="twitter" handle="akothari" handlename="akothari" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="181420206853155266"></div> Delhi Airport, in a post on X, said that some of the services at the airport were impacted due to the outage. <div type="twitter" handle="DelhiAirport" handlename="DelhiAirport" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1814203660186120407"></div> According to reports, a faulty update from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity provider is forcing affected PCs and servers offline, resulting in a recovery boot loop. “We have widespread reports of BSODs on Windows hosts, occurring on multiple sensor versions,” CrowdStrike said in a support page. "We are aware of issue affecting a subset of customers. We acknowledge the impact this can have on customers, and we are working to restore services for those still experiencing disruptions as quickly as possible,” Mic UK broadcaster Sky News was unable to broadcast, forcing it off the air. American low-cost airline Frontier has cancelled some flights in the US due to the outage. Ryanair, a major European airline reported “third-party” IT issues, which were impacting its flight departures. Microsoft revealed that the outage started around 6 pm ET on Thursday, with some of its customers experiencing issues with Azure services in the Central US. Frontier on Thursday cancelled 147 flights and delayed 212 flights. Berlin airport has warned users of travel delays due to “technical issues.” It’s not just business, several 911 emergency call centres in Alaska have also reported an outage. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/wazirx-suspends-withdrawals-after-230-million-worth-of-cryptos-stolen-in-a-hack/articleshow/111853401.cms">WazirX suspends withdrawals after $230 million worth of cryptos stolen in a hack</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/honor-200-and-honor-200-pro-launched-in-india-starting-at-34999/articleshow/111830855.cms">Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro launched in India starting at ₹34,999</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/amazon-prime-day-2024-to-begin-on-july-20-in-india-everything-you-need-to-know-about-amazons-biggest-sale/articleshow/111838068.cms">Amazon Prime Day 2024 to begin on July 20 in India – everything you need to know about Amazon’s biggest sale</a>

Microsoft outage – London Stock Exchange, banks and airlines across the world affected

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A mass IT outage is affecting flights, banks, and other organizations around the world.</li><li>A "defect" in an update for Windows caused the issue, the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said.</li></ul>Major airlines, banks, and supermarkets are experiencing widespread disruptions connected to a defective update issued by the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.<a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-vs-delta-airlines-domestic-basic-economy-review-2024-6">American Airlines</a> and United Airlines <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/united-american-warn-pilots-of-communication-issues-amid-grounding-2024-7">issued advisories to airborne flights</a> early Friday morning. The carriers said communication was intermittent because of issues with systems that send messages to planes, often from air-traffic control or airline operations.Some passengers were being issued handwritten boarding passes at airports because of the disruption. At London's Heathrow Airport, travelers were advised to check their gate numbers on Google as information screens were not working.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-it-outage-companies-operations-airlines-affected-microsoft-crowdstrike-2024-7">Broadcasters and 911 lines</a> are affected, as are grocery stores, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supermarkets-fast-food-chains-retailers-disrupted-global-it-outage-2024-7">retailers, and fast-food giants</a> whose in-store cash registers malfunctioned.As commuters woke up in New York City, they were told train-arrival information for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/NYCTSubway/status/1814244403222868014">the subway</a> would not be available, though service was unaffected."The world grinding to a halt because of a global IT meltdown shows the dark side to technology and that relying on computers doesn't always make life easier," Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell, said.CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on X the company was "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," adding: "The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed."In an interview with NBC's "Today," Kurtz apologized for the outage: "We're deeply sorry for the impact that we've caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this." He added that it "could be some time" for systems to recover.Microsoft acknowledged the issue in an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/MSFT365Status/status/1814181228196835622">X update</a>: "Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions."One cybersecurity expert told Business Insider <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fix-windows-computer-blue-screen-death-what-to-try-2024-7">there was no automatic or remote solution to the problem</a>, meaning "every computer affected has to have some manual interaction."The UK government was due to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the outage later on Friday.<h2 id="e6d4cd41-26e9-4fd3-ba4c-bc0d7d7ef1e9">Disruption and delays</h2>Singapore's Changi Airport said it was manually checking in some passengers, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/it-outage-microsoft-crowdstrike-airports-flights-businesses-4490741">local media reports</a> showed long lines at check-in counters.A spokesperson told BI: "Due to a global outage affecting IT systems of many organizations, the check-in process for some airlines at Changi Airport is being managed manually."<div type="image" title="Long lines of people waiting in Singapore's Changi Airport" height="3024" width="4032" msid="111860916" hostid="261"></div>At London's Luton Airport, Nick Xydias said he was stuck waiting for a Wizz Air flight to Larnaca, Cyprus."It's my birthday, and we'd booked a romantic trip with my wife. She'd got a new dress and everything," he told BI from a long line of frustrated passengers. "All the flights are grounded."His flight was later canceled.He also shared these photos:<div type="image" title="Long lines at Luton Airport, near London, on July 19, 2024, as airlines and other companies reeled from a mass IT outage." height="1536" width="2048" msid="111861943" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="Long lines at Luton Airport, near London, on July 19, 2024, as airlines and other companies reeled from a mass IT outage involving Microsoft and Crowdstrike." height="1536" width="2048" msid="111861946" hostid="261"></div>In Australia, Melbourne Airport <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/Melair/status/1814187188029894969">said</a> it was experiencing a "global technology" issue affecting check-in procedures for some airlines. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sydneyairport.com.au/outage">Sydney Airport</a> also reported a global outage for airline operations and terminal services, though flights were still operating.Delhi Airport in India also said it was affected. A passenger at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/akothari/status/1814202068531552666">wrote</a> on X that he had been issued a handwritten boarding pass.Edinburgh Airport in the UK and Berlin Airport in Germany also warned of delays.Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, said there was "disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control" and advised passengers to head to airports early.<h2 id="75896c98-625e-4585-b790-e51f8979d345">CrowdStrike issues</h2>Many of the affected Windows devices displayed an error message — colloquially called the "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fix-windows-computer-blue-screen-death-what-to-try-2024-7">blue screen of death</a>" — that locked users out of their computers.CrowdStrike said a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crowdstrike-global-it-outage-not-caused-by-cyberattack-2024-7">defective update</a> caused the issue.The outage is "one of the most significant of cyber issues of 2024," Omer Grossman of the cybersecurity company CyberArk said in a statement to BI. "The damage to business processes at the global level is dramatic."Correction: July 19, 2024 — An earlier version of this story gave the wrong destination airport for a passenger. Nick Xydias was trying to reach Larnaca, Cyprus, not Monaco.

A massive Microsoft outage is causing disruption across the world for airlines, banks, and retailers

<keyword id="6358007" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bank-of-baroda" source="Orion">Bank of Baroda</keyword> promoted <keyword id="437175" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="indiafirst-life" source="Orion">IndiaFirst Life</keyword> Insurance Company (IndiaFirst Life) has received capital markets regulator Sebi's approval to float Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO comprises a fresh issue of up to Rs 500 crore along with an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 14,12,99,422 equity shares by the promoters and existing shareholders of the company. Bank of Baroda will sell 8,90,15,734 equity shares, whereas <keyword id="51925" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="union-bank" source="Orion">Union Bank</keyword> of <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> will sell 1,30,56,415 equity shares in the OFS. Carmel Point Investments India would offload 3,92,27,273 equity shares during the primary stake sale. Bank of Baroda, India's third largest public sector lender, holds a 65 per cent stake in the company, followed by Warburg Pincus affiliate Carmel Point Investments India which holds 26 per cent and Union Bank of India with 9 per cent stake. The firm may consider a private placement on a preferential basis or a rights issue aggregating up to Rs 100 crore. If such a placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced. The net proceeds from the fresh issuance worth Rs 500 crore will be used towards augmentation of its capital base to support solvency levels. The company, which filed preliminary IPO papers with Sebi in October last year, obtained it's observation letter on March 15, an update with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed on Tuesday. In Sebi's parlance, obtaining an observation letter means its go-ahead to float the IPO. IndiaFirst Life is supported by an extensive bancassurance network provided by Bank of Baroda and Union Bank, two of India's biggest public sector banks. ICICI Securities, Ambit, BNP Paribas, BOB Capital Markets, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), Jefferies India and JM Financial are the book-running lead managers to the issue. The equity shares will be listed on the BSE and NSE. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/just-24-indian-companies-ready-to-defend-cybersecurity-threats-cisco-study/articleshow/98859147.cms">Just 24% Indian companies ready to defend cybersecurity threats: Cisco study</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/noida-navi-mumbai-airports-to-get-operational-by-next-year/articleshow/98858834.cms">Noida, Navi Mumbai Airports to get operational by next year</a>

Bank of Baroda-backed IndiaFirst Life Insurance gets SEBI nod to launch IPO

<ul><li>The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will be putting in new cybersecurity guidelines for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) by 31 December 2019. </li><li>The central bank said that it wants to bring UCBs at par with commercial banks. </li><li>A graded approach has been proposed where the level of security measures will vary according to a bank's digital depth, product offerings, and other factors. </li></ul>India's central bank has announced that it's going to bring in more cybersecurity guidelines for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) — to make sure that they measure up to their commercial counterparts. “This would bolster cybersecurity preparedness and ensure that the UCBs offering a range of payment services and higher information technology (IT) penetration are brought at par with commercial banks in addressing cybersecurity threats,” stated the Reserve Bank of India (<a href="https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=48803">RBI</a>) in a monetary policy committee review today. Banking is becoming more 'boundary-less' in the era of digitisation and as more data is shared online, the number of threats is growing as well. The central bank already introduced baseline controls back in October, last year. Details of the new guidelines will be announced on 31 December 2019. More digital products mean more security guidelines RBI's new 'comprehensive cybersecurity framework' has been proposed as a graded approach. This means that security measures will vary according to a UCB's digital depth, interconnectedness with other payment systems, digital products offered and overall cybersecurity risk. As the nature, variety, and scale of digital offerings increases, more stringent security measures will have to be put in place. Proposed cybersecurity measures Even though the RBI didn't go into details about its new security measures for UCBs, it did disclose that future regulations will include implementing bank-specific email domains. The easiest way for hackers to obtain sensitive data about a user is through phishing emails. They send out emails with misleading links to lure victims to giving away passwords and bank details. Bank specific email domains allow users to tell the difference between a bank's official site and fraudulent sites. A dedicated URL will give users the option to rely on their own avenues of accessing a bank's online payment service — rather than accidentally share their account information on a phishing site. The new measures will also include the periodic security assessment of public-facing websites and applications. Earlier this year, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/rbi-asks-indian-banks-to-probe-alleged-data-leak-of-1-3-million-cards/articleshow/71837356.cms?from=mdr">Group-IB</a> — based out of Singapore — reported that credit card numbers of nearly 1.3 million Indian bank customers were being sold on the dark web. And, according to the most recent data from the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), India is a prominent target for cyber attacks. Between 2016 to 2018, India was the second most affected country by cybersecurity threats. Periodic security assessment of UCB's website and apps will catch new threats and plug previously undetected loopholes. Other proposed regulations include strengthening the cybersecurity incident reporting mechanism, strengthening of the governance framework and setting up a Security Operations Center. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/top-highlights-from-rbi-governor-shaktikanta-das-speech-after-the-credit-policy-review/articleshow/72378800.cms">Top highlights from RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' speech after the credit policy review</a>

RBI's new cybersecurity guidelines are pushing India's 1,574 urban cooperative banks to bring digital services up to snuff

<ul><li>The Indian government is looking to update its <keyword id="2056063" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity-framework">cybersecurity framework</keyword> amid growing reports of state-sponsored actors, especially those from China, targeting the country’s critical infrastructure.</li><li>Coordinating between different ministries and incentivising private players to participate are likely to be the key changes, according to experts.</li><li>Considering the sensitive nature of the data that will be monitored, there needs to be significant safeguards in place to protect against government overreach.</li></ul>India was among the first few countries to launch a <keyword id="6361948" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity">cybersecurity</keyword> policy back in 2013 and now it is looking to revamp that framework. According to <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/china-hacking-concern-revives-india-focus-on-cybersecurity-plan">Bloomberg</a>, the new rules will be approved by the cabinet committee on security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Considering the fluid nature of cyberattacks, the law should enable collaborative efforts amongst states and union territories of the country and also at a cross-jurisdiction level," explained Supratim Chakraborty, a partner at Khaitan &amp; Co. More importantly, experts are hoping that this time the regulations will have a little more bite in order to be effective against <keyword id="119065" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyber-threat">cyber threat</keyword>s. “India's cyber threat canvas has evolved and now includes persistent and penetrating attacks targeting India's national and commercial computer networks,” Sameer Patil, a defence expert with Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House told Business Insider. The move to set up a new system comes amid increasing reports of hackers from other countries targeting users in India and the country’s critical infrastructure. According to cybersecurity firm <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/chinese-cybercriminals-are-targeting-the-indian-power-sector-according-to-a-report/articleshow/81274093.cms">Recorded Future</a>, a new group called the RedEcho has its cyber guns trained on India’s power grid. "If any of the critical institution, goes down, it would severely impair our ability to function normally. If the banking operations take a hit, the end use is invariably affected. If any of the confidential data of any Ministry is leaked, it would also lead to compromise in the security and sovereignty of our nation," said Neeraj Dubey, a partner at law firm Singh &amp; Associates. Red Echo may be linked to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/mumbais-massive-power-cut-last-month-may-have-been-the-work-of-hackers/articleshow/79318282.cms">massive power outage in Mumbai</a> that crippled banks and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/nse-halts-trading-after-data-glitches-stop-nifty50-and-bank-nifty-from-updating/articleshow/81186539.cms">glitch at the National Stock Exchange</a> (NSE), which the authorities are still investigating. India needs a cybersecurity policy with more bite Pankit Desai, chief executive and co-founder of Sequretek, a Mumbai-based cybersecurity firm, feels that India’s critical infrastructure has already opened India to a Trojan horse situation. He thinks that the only way for any new policy to be effective is to have more bite than bark. “We don’t need frameworks, there are enough of them that already exist. What we need is an institution with teeth that will force these entities to step up their security investments much like what RBI [Reserve Bank of India] did for banks,” he told Business Insider. It has been eight years since India’s cybersecurity framework was first unveiled, but not much has been done in terms of creating a coordinated approach to address cyber threats — especially when it comes to the country’s critical infrastructure. “The response to a cyber threat should be at least as coordinated as the emergency response to the floods in Uttarakhand last month,” Avimukt Dar, founding member and senior partner at IndusLaw, told Business Insider. The private sector has a key role to play The question isn’t only about coordination between public stakeholders, but private ones too. According to Dar, companies and businesses will only report any kind of cyber incidents if they get something in return. “Until and unless companies are being held to ransom, the details don’t come out — we saw this last year,” he said. Not sharing data can leave behind a gaping hole of information. According to Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Cyfirma, cyber intelligence sharing is critical for players within a specific industry or a group of companies in order to fight cybercrime, effectively. “This can create a common repository of known threats, malware, attack vectors and methods, giving organisations additional ammunition to mount more effective defence strategies. And this can only be done if reporting of data breaches is made mandatory,” Kumar Ritesh, the founder and CEO of Cyfirma told Business Insider. In order to incentivise private players to report cyber threats in a quick and prompt way, the government needs to beef up its ability to protect Indian data from attacks and show Indian businesses that it's doing something meaningful and credible to allow their business continuity. What will the new framework mean for ordinary folks? The new rules are an indication that the regulatory powers under Ravi Shankar Prasad’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are increasing. “MeitY was historically a ministry intended to promote IT and electronics. Of late, it has a larger regulatory role which we saw in the IT Rules that came out in February. The IT Act is getting fully operationalised,” said Dar. What is worrying is that India is currently <a href="https://internetshutdowns.in/">leading the world</a> in the number of days the internet has been shut down in one part of the country or another increasing the deficit of trust that the public has with the government. Moreover, the recently passed IT Rules for social media, over-the-top (OTT) platforms and digital news have raised concerns about breaking encryption and the level of overreach that the government may have at its disposal. “What we need to have in this policy are significant safeguards, which do not allow for people’s privacy to be compromised.You always have to assume there can be bad faith apples within the government too,” said Dar. There have already been multiple cases of US government employees <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Egregious-Cases-Of-US-Government-Employees-Abusing-Databases-To-Spy-On-Americans/articleshow/21031032.cms">abusing databases</a> to spy on ordinary citizens. In order to allay concerns, Dar recommends that there should be sufficient punishment in place to address the issue. "It should not be an administrative punishment, it should be a stiff criminal punishment for doing something wrong — like a jail sentence," he said. Others have a more positive stance on the problem and believe that there will, inevitably, be some degree of trade off between the privacy of users and the security concerns of the state. "Both are equally legitimate concerns – but are entirely premised on what the government wants to take in relation to their framework... At present, it appears that India is greatly focussing on protecting its critical infrastructures pertaining to health, education, end-user station, nuclear sector, etc. Therefore, end-users are likely to be affected to some extent, however, that may be for the greater good.," opined Chakraborty. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/kerala-high-court-issues-notice-to-central-government-over-the-chilling-effects-of-indias-new-it-rules-for-digital-news/articleshow/81432730.cms">Kerala High Court issues notice to central government over the ‘chilling effects’ of India’s new IT Rules for digital news</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/whatsapp-signal-and-telegram-face-a-catch-22-situation-as-indias-new-social-media-rules-threaten-encryption/articleshow/81221070.cms">WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram face a catch-22 situation as India’s new social media rules threaten encryption</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-and-twitter-have-a-ton-of-new-rules-to-abide-by-in-india-whatsapp-may-find-itself-in-the-toughest-spot-of-all/articleshow/81208643.cms">Facebook and Twitter have a ton of new rules to abide by in India ⁠— WhatsApp may find itself in the toughest spot of all</a>

It has taken over 7 years for India to revamp its cybersecurity policy — experts say there's room for carrots and sticks but not surveillance

<ul><li>Among functional skill suites with the highest intent-to-hire in Q1FY2024, development roles (28%) held the highest share. </li><li>The demand for SAP(16%) expertise has consistently remained high. </li><li>When it comes to demand for technical skills across various sectors, the IT sector (15%) has emerged as the frontrunner with the highest share. </li></ul><keyword id="1458566" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-skills" source="Orion">Digital skills</keyword> like <keyword id="15777223" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="generative-ai" source="Orion">generative AI</keyword> and <keyword id="771372" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-analytics" source="Orion">data analytics</keyword> are in high demand and this will only rise signalling exciting prospects for India’s skilled workforce, according to ‘The Skills Report’ by Quess Corp, a business solutions provider. The report indicates that there has been a noticeable increase in the requirement for professionals possessing technical skills such as development, systems, applications, and products (SAP), <keyword id="6356669" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="automotive" source="Orion">automotive</keyword> design, testing, and infrastructure support in the first quarter of FY24. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="In-demand functional suites" comment="subhead" text="In-demand functional suites">In-demand functional suites</cmsannotation> It is seen that 78% of aggregate demand emerges from only five tech skill suites. Among functional skill suites with the highest intent-to-hire in Q1FY2024 development roles (28%) held the highest share. There was a noted demand for developers skilled in over 65 technical proficiencies and platforms. Interestingly, full stack skills exhibited consistent and upwardly trending demand within the <keyword id="6640407" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="consulting" source="Orion">consulting</keyword>, automotive, <keyword id="6354778" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banking" source="Orion">banking</keyword>, and telecom sectors. The need for SAP knowledge, accounting for 16% of expertise, has consistently stayed strong, covering both developmental and implementation facets. According to Quess, there was a notable rise in demand for these skills, especially within the consulting and global capabilities centre (GCC) client domains. Automotive design, constituting 14% of the sought-after expertise, stands as another significant skill in high demand. The global and Indian automotive sectors are currently witnessing a notable upswing in the necessity for skilled professionals. This surge can be attributed to the escalating integration of digital technologies into the industry and the growing need for individuals with adeptness in technological domains. Furthermore, there is a distinct rise in the requirement for testing skills (12%), applicable to both manual and automated domains. Particularly striking is the substantial demand for proficiencies in tools such as Selenium, TOSCA, Workday, and ServiceNow. Across various industries, the need for skills related to IT infrastructure support (8%) remains consistent, encompassing both Level 1 and Level 2 support functions. This requirement spans across a wide spectrum of more than 30 specific areas. In tandem with these functional skill sets, there is a call for competencies in domains such as data science, DevOps, cloud computing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design, and other related fields. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The need for diverse recruitment frameworks" comment="subhead" text="The need for diverse recruitment frameworks">The need for diverse recruitment frameworks</cmsannotation> According to the report, to address the disparity between talent demand and supply, the industry must explore methods to enhance the availability of a skilled workforce using diverse hiring strategies. Utilising Center of Excellence programs, which maintain a pool of pre-assessed and skilled candidates, can expedite recruitment processes for conventional technology skills. For areas with insufficiently available technological expertise, companies can implement hire-train-deploy initiatives to empower candidates to enhance their skills and stay up-to-date with modern technologies. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Industry wise tech skills demand" comment="subhead" text="Industry wise tech skills demand">Industry wise tech skills demand</cmsannotation> When analysing the distribution of demand for technical skills across various sectors, the Information Technology (IT) sector (15%) has emerged as the frontrunner with the highest share, closely followed by the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector (15%), as well as the digital engineering sector (13%). The telecom and healthcare industries have also experienced positive shifts in sentiment. As the global focus shifts towards renewable energy sources, the oil and gas sector is under pressure to revamp its business strategies and decision-making approaches in order to stay competitive. In response to this challenge, companies are embracing digital solutions to uncover new avenues for revenue generation, enhance production efficiency, and reduce operational costs. Cutting-edge technologies like data analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) are empowering these organisations to optimise intricate processes and adapt more adeptly to market volatility, unexpected disruptions, and other challenges. Says Vijay Sivaram, CEO, Quess IT Staffing, “Amid macroeconomic headwinds affecting the US and Europe, the IT services sector faces a downward hiring trend of 25-30%. However, this situation has opened up new opportunities, with GCCs ramping up talent acquisition and projecting an estimated employee strength of 1.4 million, hiring is likely to increase by 10%.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs" text="Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs">Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs</cmsannotation> Hiring efforts across India were primarily concentrated in the IT hubs located in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Haryana. The prevalence of remote work policies and the enhancement of data services infrastructure have facilitated an increase in hiring activity in Tier and Tier3 cities. This trend is particularly noticeable within e-commerce and financial services companies. For example, Quess has successfully placed employees in cities such as Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore, Kochi, Gulmarg, Siliguri, and several others.

Demand for five digital skills like Gen-AI and data analytics to pick steam exponentially

<ul><li>The State Bank of India’s (SBI) server was left without any password protection exposing the contact details, balances and partial account number details of its users. </li><li>The server has since been secured, but while left vulnerable, it had archived messages going back to December. </li><li>While no sensitive data was disclosed, the data breach leaves customers susceptible to social engineering hacks and extortion.</li></ul>Hacking is where someone has to bypass security in order to get information, but India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), left the data of millions of users exposed all because it <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/30/state-bank-india-data-leak/">did not set a password</a> on its server. The ‘SBI Quick’ server — a service that allows the bank’s customers to text the bank for information on their accounts — has reportedly been secured since the report. But while it was open, it had archives of messages dating back to December according to TechCrunch’s investigation. That’s millions and millions of messages about balance information, loan inquiries, financial transactions and other data — although there were no passwords disclosed. The data breach was spotted by a security researcher (unnamed) and verified by Karan Saini, the researcher who previously found a leak in India’s Aadhaar database, the largest biometric authentication system in the world. Business Insider has reached out to SBI but they are yet to issue a response on the data breach. . Your data is secure… so far While there was no sensitive data on the server, simple details like partial account numbers and contact information can render the SBI customers vulnerable to ransom demands. Social engineering attacks, one of the most common ways commit financial fraud, could also be a possibility. Drawing a correlation between a phone number and a high account balance, a social engineering attack would involve human interaction and manipulating their targets in to breaking normal security guidelines. 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="“The data available could potentially be used to profile and target individuals that are known to have high account balances.&quot;" auname="Karan Saini, security researcher told TechCrunch"></div>





 The scope of the problem As India’s largest bank, SBI claims to have more than 500 million customers worldwide with 740 million accounts. And since the bank hasn’t issued any response there isn’t any data available to determine exactly which customers’ data was exposed and how many customers are vulnerable overall. But, in a single data, the server shoots out nearly three million messages which doesn’t paint a very encouraging picture. India’s problem with data Protecting data is a much larger program and goes beyond SBI. It’s not companies aren’t spending on security, but it’s getting harder to stay ahead of the challenges. To be fair, in SBI’s case, it was a simple case of negligence. When the Cosmos Bank — a 112 year old bank in India — was <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/north-korean-connection-to-cosmos-hacking-signs-point-to-bangladesh-heist-masterminds/articleshow/65411640.cms">hacked</a> in August last year, it was the victim of an attack carried out by the Lazarus Group of North Korea. A report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) <a href="https://www.bcg.com/en-in/capabilities/technology-digital/mastering-cybersecurity.aspx">found</a> that among 50 of the recent major data breaches, only 28% were caused by inadequate security tech. In all the other cases — that’s 72% or nearly three-quarters — the breaches were caused due to organizational failure, process failure or, simply, employee negligence. While improving the technology behind cybersecurity is important, it’s also key to drive resilience measures in order to improve efficacy. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nearly-773-million-email-accounts-have-been-exposed-in-a-massive-data-breach-heres-how-to-check-if-you-were-affected/articleshow/67576032.cms">Nearly 773 million email accounts have been exposed in a massive data breach. Here's how to check if you were affected</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/state-bank-of-india-halves-withdrawal-limit-at-atms-to-20000-per-day-to-prevent-fraud/articleshow/66442390.cms">State Bank of India halves withdrawal limit at ATMs to ₹20,000 per day to prevent fraud</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-21-biggest-data-breaches-of-2018/articleshow/67045497.cms">The 21 biggest data breaches of 2018</a>

India’s largest bank leaves the data of millions of users exposed

<ul><li>India’s cybersecurity <keyword id="53650" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="watchdog">watchdog</keyword>, <keyword id="448001" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="CERT-In">CERT-In</keyword>, has warned users about the ‘high’ number of vulnerabilities to WhatsApp and <keyword id="4936066" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="whatsapp-business">WhatsApp Business</keyword>’ older versions.</li><li>Meanwhile, malware disguised as an offer to turn WhatsApp’s traditional green into pink or gold is also making the rounds in group chats. </li><li>Users are recommended to keep their WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business mobile apps up to date and report to the company if they come across any suspicious links.</li></ul>The Indian cybersecurity watchdog, Cert-In, has issued a ‘high’ severity rating against WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business. According to the vulnerability note, the emergency response team has found ‘multiple’ vulnerabilities within the mobile apps. And these loopholes could allow hackers to gain access to sensitive information about you. “Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code or access sensitive information on a target system,” <a href="https://cert-in.org.in/">said the note</a>. However, this is only an issue for users still running an old version of WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. If your app is up to date, then your information should be safe. But that’s not it. A new threat has been making the rounds over group chat. The link entices users by offering to turn the WhatsApp interface from its traditional green color to a shade of pink as well as new features. Another claims to turn WhatsApp from green to gold. <div type="twitter" handle="rajaharia" handlename="Rajshekhar Rajaharia" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1321786916505710592/mL9ugzP0_normal.jpg" favoritecount="92" retweetcount="72" status="Beware of @WhatsApp Pink!! A Virus is being spread in #WhatsApp groups with an APK download link. Don't click any l… https://t.co/HTZY8fYhrz" createdat="1618681509000" id="1383476641293168640"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="WhatsApp is meant to be green" comment="subhead" text="WhatsApp is meant to be green">WhatsApp is meant to be green</cmsannotation> Cybersecurity experts claim that clicking on the link offering to turn WhatsApp into a different colour may lead to users losing access to their accounts altogether. According to PTI, several <keyword id="1540772" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp-users">WhatsApp users</keyword> have been circulating that link unknowingly. <div type="ExtQuote" text="&quot;Such malicious apps can be used to compromise your phone and steal personal data like photos, SMS, contacts, etc. Keyboard-based malware can be used to track everything you type. It can be used to capture and steal banking passwords.”" auname="Director of Voyager Infosec, cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and malware analysis company, Jiten Jain told PTI"></div> WhatsApp recommends keeping away from unverified links. "Anyone can get an unusual, uncharacteristic, or suspicious message on any service, including email, and anytime that happens we strongly encourage everyone to use caution before responding or engaging,” the company said in a statement. It also recommends that people use the tools that are provided within the app to send the company a report, report a contact, or block contact. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/macrotech-developers-lists-at-10-discount-analysts-recommend-that-shareholders-should-wait-it-out/articleshow/82138450.cms">Macrotech Developers IPO lists at 10% discount — analysts recommend that shareholders should wait it out</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/razorpay-raises-160-million-at-3-billion-valuation-plans-for-more-acquisitions/articleshow/82137901.cms">Razorpay raises $160 million at $3 billion valuation, plans for more acquisitions</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/hdfc-bank-macrotech-developers-adani-ports-and-other-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-april-19/slidelist/82137367.cms">HDFC Bank, Macrotech Developers, Adani Ports and other stocks to watch out for on April 19</a>

WhatsApp under threat — multiple vulnerabilities in older versions of the app and a new ‘Pink’ malware on the prowl

<ul><li>India’s upcoming <keyword id="10678165" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="digital-rupee" source="Orion">digital rupee</keyword> may not necessarily use <keyword id="6355684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blockchain" source="Orion">blockchain</keyword> technology for <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword>’s <keyword id="6358156" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="central-bank" source="Orion">central bank</keyword> digital currency (<keyword id="6791630" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cbdc" source="Orion">CBDC</keyword>).</li><li>“The technology choices are open,” said RBI executive director T Rabi Shankar during Thursday’s press conference.</li><li>The RBI treading is ‘carefully’ on its CBDC experiment and no external agencies are involved thus far in its development.</li></ul>India’s Finance Minister Nirmala <keyword id="679937" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sitharaman" source="Orion">Sitharaman</keyword> announced that the central bank will be ready to launch its blockchain-based central bank digital currency (CBDC), <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/digital-rupee-to-be-introduced-by-the-rbi-confirms-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-speech/articleshow/89268343.cms">the digital rupee</a>, before March 2023. However, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Executive Director, T Rabi Sankar, clarified on Thursday that the central bank is also open to other technologies. <div type="ExtQuote" text="The technology choices are open. We are open to trying out all possible technologies, it depends on the use case — which will be more appropriate." auname="Statement by RBI Executive Director T Rabi Shankar during the monetary policy press conference on February 10"></div> India’s central bank is in no rush to launch its digital rupee. RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das, shared that the institution’s cautious approach stems from the new-ness of the concept. “There are many risks,” he said, highlighting that cybersecurity and the possibility of counterfeiting are the biggest issues to address prior to launch. <div type="ExtQuote" text="Whatever we’re doing, we’re doing it very carefully. We don’t want to rush into it." auname="Statement by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, during the monetary policy press conference on February 10."></div> The RBI did not reveal an exact timeline for the roll out but accepted that it will be in line with the March 2023 deadline shared with Sitharaman. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What are the alternatives to blockchain?" comment="subhead" text="What are the alternatives to blockchain?">What are the alternatives to blockchain?</cmsannotation> Blockchains are only one type of distributed ledger technology (DLT). In most cases, it is considered to be a permissionless platform. But for the central bank to remain in control of the digital rupee — and the notion that most banks would like to prevent their competitors from peeking at their liquidity strategies — it would need a permissioned system for its upcoming CBDC. In Italy, for instance, the tech enterprise company R3 is running a pilot for interbank settlement on its Corda platform. Instead of having multiple nodes which validate a transaction, only the central bank has this power. However, unlike Italy, the RBI is currently only working with agencies within the ecosystem. “External agencies are not involved thus far. Depending on the requirements going forward, the projects and developments will be assessed accordingly,” said Shankar. This may work for a wholesale digital rupee where the number of transactions are likely to be limited. However, for a retail digital rupee, which has to serve the needs of nearly 1.4 billion Indians, a single node to validate transactions would create a bottleneck and clog up the system. <div type="ExtQuote" text="Work is progressing on wholesale and retail use of the CBDC. Account-based models are easier to develop, whereas token-based models take longer to develop. Which model we will decide to test first will be decided at a later date." auname="Statement by RBI Executive Director T Rabi Shankar during the monetary policy press conference on February 10"></div> Instead, it is possible that the RBI will choose a host of ‘trusted’ parties, who can act as validators for transactions — most likely banks. But, even then, technological improvements would be required to address the problem of scale. Whatever the case may be, the digital rupee is expected to function exactly like paper money. The only difference between the two will be that while paper money is sorted in physical wallets, the digital rupee can be stored on a cell phone. Unlike cryptocurrencies, the digital rupee will come under the purview of the central bank. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-ethereum-cardano-and-solana-price-increase-even-as-crypto-market-dips/slidelist/89467304.cms">Bitcoin, Ethereum and others are on a high even as overall market value takes a hit</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/the-dao-that-wants-to-free-julian-assange-just-won-the-bid-for-a-53-million-nft-that-will-be-used-to-fund-the-wikileaks-founders-legal-defense/articleshow/89463805.cms">Julian Assange just won the bid for a $53 million NFT that will be used to fund the WikiLeaks founder's legal defence</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoins-20-rise-in-the-last-week-suggests-momentum-is-building-towards-a-sustained-period-of-gains-research-firm-says/articleshow/89463449.cms">Bitcoin's 20% rise in the last week suggests momentum is building towards a sustained period of gains, research firm says</a>

India’s digital rupee may not necessarily be on the blockchain, according to the country’s central bank

Cybercriminals are trying to lure Indian users into revealing important personal information with a new report on Monday warning that suspicious messages asking users to submit an application for the disbursement of income tax refund have been doing the rounds, with a link that directs users to a webpage looking like the income tax e-filing web page. The targeted banks in the campaign include the <keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword>, ICICI, HDFC, <keyword id="6355975" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="axis-bank">Axis Bank</keyword> and <keyword id="62034" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Punjab-National-Bank">Punjab National Bank</keyword>, revealed an investigation by New Delhi-based think tank CyberPeace Foundation along with cybersecurity services firmAutobot Infosec. The suspicious links originate from the US and France, said the report, adding that the campaign is collecting personal as well as banking information from the user and getting into this type of trap could cause a massive financial loss for the users. The shared link with the SMS has no domain name and is not linked with the Indian government. All IP addresses associated with the campaign belong to some third party dedicated cloud hosting providers, said the report. The whole campaign uses plain http protocol instead of the secure https. This means anyone on the network or internet can intercept the traffic and get the confidential information in plain text to misuse against the victim. It asks users to download an application from a third party source instead of Google Playstore. The application asks to provide administrator rights and unnecessary access permissions of the device. On opening the link http://204.44.124[.]160/ITR, users are redirected to a landing page that is mostly similar to the government income tax e-filing website. On clicking the green 'Proceed to the verification steps' button, users are asked to submit personal information such as full name, PAN, Aadhar number, address, pincode, date of birth, mobile number, email address, gender, marital status and banking information like account number, IFSC code, card number, expiry date, CVV/CVC and card PIN. Additionally, the bank name is automatically detected from the IFSC code entered in the form. After submission of data, users are redirected to a page where they are asked to confirm the entered data. Clicking on the green 'confirm' button directs users to a fake banking login page almost similar to the official one. It asks for the username and password for online banking. After these details are entered, for the next step, users are asked to enter a Hint question, Answer, Profile password and CIF number. Once submitted, a mobile verification section with instructions provided to download an android application (.apk file) appears, to complete the ITR verification. Here, users are deliberately instructed to grant all device permissions to the particular application, the investigation revealed. The application, called Certificate.apk, starts downloading upon clicking the green 'Download' link. The overall layout and functionalities of the web page used in the campaign are similar to the official e-filing site to lure laymen, said the report. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/bank-employees-in-india-on-strike-today-and-tomorrow-but-mobile-and-net-banking-services-are-working/articleshow/81505273.cms">Bank employees on strike today and tomorrow — ATMs, net and mobile banking likely to be the only relief</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indias-personal-data-protection-law-versus-europes-gdpr/articleshow/81504058.cms">Being GDPR compliant doesn't necessarily make companies ready for India's upcoming data protection laws</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/stripe-the-most-valued-startup-in-the-us-to-offer-payment-services-to-indias-merchants-after-its-latest-fundraise/articleshow/81504106.cms">Stripe, the most valued startup in the US, to offer payment services to India’s merchants after its latest fundraise</a>

SBI, ICICI, HDFC, Axis Bank, PNB and the Indian IT department targeted in phishing scam

<ul><li>Indian external affairs minister <keyword id="3006063" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Subrahmanyan-Jaishankar">Subrahmanyan Jaishankar</keyword> explained why the <keyword id="6374106" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-external-affairs">Ministry of External Affairs</keyword> (MEA) needs its own new, emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division. </li><li>As a stakeholder in national security, MEA must monitor cyber threats as well. </li><li>While the nature of technology may not be strategic, it can become so in the hands of a strategic player. </li></ul>Technology is no longer just about economics — it dictates a country's cyber might and leads to fears of governments spying on each other. However, the strategic importance of technology depends on a number of different factors, according to External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2020, Jaishankar explained why the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) needs a separate division to monitor emerging technology. “It is no longer realistic to deal with technology as economics, which used to be an old fashioned way around 20-30 years ago. Today technology is very strategic,” he said. The question of national security Cyberthreats are on the rise. Threat intelligence company Group-IB found that cyberspace was increasingly weaponised in 2019. Their report found that cyber weapons were used to carry out numerous military operations last year. In addition, the number of state-sponsored attackers is on the rise. Jaishankar believes that since the MEA is a stakeholder in national security, it’s only logical that it should oversee technology that could pose a potential threat. “There are technologies that are strategic in nature and it’s important for a ministry that analyses foreign affairs, which contributes to national security, to have a set of people who are competent, trained and focused to analyse those strategically relevant technologies,” explained Jaishankar. His concerns seem valid in light of Lazarus — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/heres-why-north-korean-hackers-attacked-indias-nuclear-power-plant/articleshow/72035492.cms">hackers based out of North Korea</a> — targeting Indian government institutions like the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indian-nuclear-plant-hack-is-only-one-small-part-of-a-much-bigger-operation-according-to-a-cybersecurity-expert/articleshow/72033253.cms">KNPP</a>) in November last year. However, Group IB finds that two of seven new cyber-espionage groups in 2019 — BITTER and Sidewinder — were state-sponsored hackers based out of India. The strategic importance of technology varies Most people believe that technology which circumvents consent — like Pegasus spyware infiltrating WhatsApp accounts — are the biggest threats to national security due to their predatory nature. While that may be the primary determinant, Jaishankar feels technology can also become strategic on the basis of who’s using it. “There are technologies, which in the hands of strategic players, becomes strategic technology. Some of it is the nature of technology, some of it is the user of technology, deployment of technology and the intent of technology,” he said. So far, MEA’s new, emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division said that it will monitor the implementation of 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). Its mandate, however, extends to developing India’s external technology policy in line with national security goals. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/cloud-5g-and-wetware-attacks-the-5-biggest-cybersecurity-threats-of-2020/articleshow/73054612.cms">Cloud, 5G and 'wetware' attacks — the 5 biggest cybersecurity threats of 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/news/rbis-new-cybersecurity-guidelines-are-pushing-indias-1574-urban-cooperative-banks-to-bring-digital-services-up-to-snuff/articleshow/72381380.cms">RBI's new cybersecurity guidelines are pushing India's 1,574 urban cooperative banks to bring digital services up to snuff</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indian-nuclear-plant-hack-is-only-one-small-part-of-a-much-bigger-operation-according-to-a-cybersecurity-expert/articleshow/72033253.cms">Indian nuclear plant hack is only one small part of a much 'bigger' operation, according to a cybersecurity expert</a>

You Searched For "cybersecurity banking india" and got 12 results

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