Strengthen cyber defenses

Cybersecurity is becoming a critical challenge lately, with increasing dependence on digital technologies, coupled with growing sophistication in cyber threats. The government, businesses, and individuals increasingly depend on digital platforms for communication, commerce, governance and services. As more sensitive information and critical systems get digitized, the risks of cyberattacks increase exponentially. It is encouraging to see that our government has also started taking this issue seriously. Amid a growing concern that it may have a recurring problem of cyber security threat in future, the government bodies are advised against using pirated software to ensure secured operation. According to the National Cyber Security Center under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the governmental bodies are depending so much on the unlicensed copy of the computer program, which may invite other problems such as hacking and also technical glitches during day-to-day operations. The centre issued a 102-point cyber security advisory to the government offices to control the use of pirated software with a view to check the possible hacking of information relating to government services. The implementation of the advisory is expected to protect the information technology system of the government offices from the possible cyber attack. These guidelines will also be equally useful to the general public in order to keep themselves on the safe side from probable hacking.

The advisory comes at a time when the government websites are facing continued cyber attacks. A number of public service deliveries suffered cyber threats on several occasions in the past. In November last year, the public suffered massive inconvenience because of an inability to access online passport forms and related services following the hacker attack and virus infection in the software system at the Department of Passports. There were similar incidents in July 2017. Similar hacking was reported on the server of the Department of Transport Management. The hackers had used the department's official website for the illegal distribution of a large number of fake driving licenses. Cyber security does not relate only to effective public service delivery but also to national security as a whole. Cybercriminals and state-sponsored hackers are using advanced tools comprising artificial intelligence, ransomware and phishing. It is getting difficult to identify and remove them, hence the level of damage inflicted is turning deadly. Moreover, it has also resulted in great losses on finances, discontinuity of business and loss of goodwill as well.

Additionally, cyber security has emerged as one of the biggest threats to data security. Given that huge amounts of personal information are maintained online, there is a growing concern that the cases of data breach result in identity theft and misuse of personal information and financial frauds. With almost everything getting digitized rapidly, instances of cybercrime are going to increase manifold in the days ahead. As the digital landscape evolves, so do the risks associated with it. Cybersecurity is no longer solely an IT concern but a global concern that affects economic stability, national security and even personal privacy. This calls for a collective approach by government, businesses and individuals to come up with robust defenses, policies and awareness programs. As the cyber security threat grows every single day, it is high time all concerned stakeholders take appropriate measures to strengthen cyber defense before it is too late.