NEW DELHI: The government has made the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) a nodal agency to address the growing threats to cybersecurity.
According to a notification issued late Friday night, the Prime Minister-led NSCS, in addition to assisting the National Security Adviser, who is the Prime Minister’s and Council’s principal advisor on national security matters, will be tasked with providing “overall information on cybersecurity. It is tasked with providing coordination and strategic direction. .
Until now, this task has been handled by the Cabinet Secretariat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will oversee the NSCS, with NSA Ajit Doval as its secretary. The NSCS acts as the apex body for all security issues within India and abroad.
As per the notification, specific responsibilities have been assigned to the Communications, IT and Home Ministries for greater clarity.
The telecommunications department will be responsible for communications network security, the IT department will be responsible for cybersecurity, and the Ministry of Home Affairs will deal with cybercrime.
This decision mandates clearly defined roles for various government agencies to eliminate ambiguity and duplication of effort in government deliberations and combating the cyberattack challenge that has opened up new areas of warfare. This is based on the experiences of several countries.
“This new allocation of business rules will provide greater clarity in addressing different aspects and enable a better coordinated strategy. NSA will have a greater say in these matters. ” said a person familiar with the reasons behind the change.
According to the notification, the Telecommunications Department, in addition to its previous duties such as policy, licensing and coordination related to telegraph, telephone, radio, data, facsimile, telematics services and other similar forms of communication, will It will also deal with “matters related to” .
Similarly, the Electronics and IT Department is assigned tasks related to “cybersecurity stipulated in the IT Act” and “support for other ministries and agencies regarding cybersecurity.”
In the case of the Ministry of Interior, additional tasks were assigned to “matters related to cybercrime.”
