To tackle cyber threats and potential crimes better in the information era, the Indian government in association with the Armed Forces is developing the Defence Cyber Agency, Lt Gen M M Naravane, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, said Tuesday. Instead of an exclusive army-led venture, this will be an inter-service agency, he clarified, further adding that units will be set up all over the country to decentralise efforts and resources in the crusade against cyber threats.

Its composition

Currently in its final stages, the facility once operational will pool in resources from all three wings of the defence services, namely the Army, Navy and Air Force, to address all threats in the cyber domain.

The first ever dedicated cyber wing in the army will have close to a 200-strong staff from the tri-services. They will serve under the command of the Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee and work closely with the National Cyber Security Advisor.

It will be headed by a two-star rank officer and come under the supervision of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) which works to foster coordination and enable prioritisation across the different branches of the Indian Armed Forces.

To begin with, the Defence Cyber Agency will be based out of the IDS Headquarters and later dedicated units will come up with the Army commands.

“The entire proposal is still under the formulation. Of course units will be spread all over the country. One person sitting in Delhi cannot be expected to do all these jobs. There will be units in every Headquarters with dedicated officers to deal with the cyber security,” added Naravane.

The initiative was announced during Army Day celebrations at Fort William, Kolkata, which houses the Army’s Eastern Command headquarters.

Objective

The need for a specialised agency was felt amidst growing cyber threats to the defence services, according to Naravane who said, “It will be an inter-services agency, not purely Army, functioning under the IDS and they will be looking after all the threats in the cyber domain,” PTI reported. “There will be units or cells or dedicated officers at every headquarter to deal with the aspect of cybersecurity,” he further said, stressing that the agency will be spread out all over the country.

As cyber warfare reshaped threat perception around the world, the Indian government grew rightly concerned over the existing gaps in dealing with such crises, and resolved to empower the Armed Forces to that effect. Last year, after the Home , Law and Defence Ministry websites were allegedly hacked, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the budget to form three agencies, one of which is the titular Defence Cyber Agency.

Although the newly minted division’s course plan and immediate goals are not clear, a lot is riding on the new project. After its formal inauguration later this year, people will possibly have a better understanding of how it stands to protect the army and the country from data theft, malware attacks, financial crimes and malicious hacks.

Last January, Pakistan-based hackers had hijacked the website of National Security Guard (NSG) and posted anti-India content on it.

After the border stand-off in Doklam in November, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) stepped up cyber vigilance by advising all soldiers posted on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) against using 42 social media applications including WhatsApp WeChat, Truecaller, Weibo, due to plausible security concerns.

The lack of adequate security measures in Narendra Modi’s Digital India has been an issue of concern and was brought up at the Lok Sabha earlier this year. Over 700 websites connected to the central and state governments have been hacked in the past four years. 

Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius

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