Pre-budget Recommendations

“India is seeing rapid adoption of technology within the government, businesses and amongst its people – most visible in government services, education, healthcare, financial services, entertainment and information via mobile devices, extending beyond interpersonal communication.

With the ubiquitous hyper-connectivity and horizontal integration of technology across all walks of life, it is not surprising that cybersecurity threats featured amongst the top four risks by the World Economic Forum in its recent report. India is not immune or an outlier to this trend. Hence, it would be best to design, develop and deploy an integrated cyber security and response strategy at every level and especially so, in the critical infrastructures including banking, energy, telecom and smart cities.

The budget should mandate setting aside 10 percent of the respective technology budgets for every government project to be invested in cybersecurity, as per the recommendations of the NASSCOM Task Force set up in response to the Prime Minister’s behest. In addition, the data protection law should be expedited, albeit via further consultations and aligning the same with the global best practices.”

Deepak Maheshwari, Director – Government Affairs, India, Symantec.―CT Bureau