PHD Chamber in collaboration with DeitY (Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Govt. of India) has organized National Conference on Cyber Security ‘Cyberix 2016 – Securing Digital India’. The Conference was designed with the aim to understand the Changing facets of Cyber Threats and its impact on vital installations and businesses, deliberate on suggestions and recommendations to improve the current scenario and spur growth in the Cyber Security industry in India which has tremendous potential.
The Conference was inaugurated by the Guest of Honour Brig. M. U. Nair DACIDS, DIARA, Indian Army. The special address was delivered by Shri. R.K. Sudhanshu, Joint Secretary – Cyber Laws and E-Security, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India.
Gopal Jiwarajka, President – PHD Chamber in his welcome address said that although Internet increases communication, it can also increase the incidence of cyber threats which is evident in the fact that India ranks fifth in online payment hacking.
Atul Anand, Co-Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber in his theme address of the Conference said that with increasing number of online users, cyber security should also be updated so that there are minimum chances of cyber crime. He suggested that extensive usage of biometrics can help to reduce cyber crimes.
In his Special Address in the Inaugural Session, R.K Sudhanshu, Joint Secretary – Cyber Laws and E- Security , Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY), Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India said that the existing cyber laws have not been able to keep pace with cyber crimes reported in modern times and therefore require suitable amendments. He added that DeitY is already engaged with this detailing exercise and might make amendments in the prevailing Cyber Act so that with fresh amendments Cyber Security can be made robust and effective.
Dr. Claire Vishik, Security & Privacy Technology and Policy Director, Intel Corporation, United Kingdom (UK) during her address at the Inaugural session said that there are 50 billion connected devices around the world and it is important for the developer to know the intent of other developers, legacy integration etc. She added that in order to have a secure cyber space, there should be innovative threat models, extensible framework and most importantly updated technology professionals.
Addressing the conference as the Guest of Honour Brig. M U Nair, DACIDS DIARA, Indian Army, felt that with new innovations that have taken place in Cyber and IT landscape, the sensitivities relating to data protection in the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy is becoming vulnerable and therefore, collective steps have to be taken so that the cyber space stays totally full proof and infallible.
Vivek Seigell, Director, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber emphasised on two key points while discussing the role of the industry and the Govt of starting an early education of the potential threats of using technology especially to the school going children as also looking at developing technologies which can work on potential threats.
Plenary Session
The Plenary session was moderated by Vivek Seigell, Director Electronics and ICT Committee, PHD Chamber. Eminent speakers included Saket Modi, CEO, Lucideus; Sunil Gujral, Chief Technology Officer and President, Quatrro Technologies; Ashish Kishore, Emerging and Growth Vertical India, Cisco Systems; Yiannis Giokas, Vice President R&D, PCCW Global; T D Virwani, CISO, Punjab National Bank and Dr. N.K Goyal, President, CMAI
Yiannis Giokas, Vice President, PCCW Global elaborated on the need for Cyber Security professionals in India and around the world. Ashish Kishore from security division of Cisco Systems elaborated on the changing facets of Cyber threats. He said there are 50 million connected devices in India which would increase to 500 billion by 2030. He mentioned that this is a result of our preference as an individual and as a citizen of the country.
Mr. Kishore said that consumers have become very demanding as they prefer hyper relevance over personalisation. He explained ‘Hyper Relevance’ which means that a person is ready to share all the information to the service provider to serve us better anywhere anytime which gives opportunity to the hacker or attackers to make their moves.
T.D Virwani, CISO & AGM, Punjab National Bank spoke about the Indian banking industry and how it has evolved manifolds in past few years owing to technological innovations. Saket Modi, CEO – Lucideus spoke about the issues faced by the Cyber security start-ups in India. He said earlier that cyber security was not on priority list for a CEO irrespective of the vertical, but with recent attacks it has become a top priority for the companies to secure their digital assets as all businesses are going digital to survive in this competitive market place.
Sunil Gujral, CTO and President, Quatrro Technologies said that the security measures being undertaken today is no different from what we used to do many years back but the speed at which things are happening has changed.
Vivek Seigell, Director, Electronics and ICT Committee – PHD Chamber concluded the proceeding by highlighting the fact that it is important to have a clear cut strategy for guarding against cyber threats for organisations and government for internal and external security which is backed by latest tools and techniques and a clear focus on the leakages which can take place in the system.
