National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has opened up the national security regime to the private sector, with the launch of a cyber security report titled ‘Recommendations of Joint Working Group on Engagement with Private Sector on Cyber Security’.

“The enormous potential for damage has made cyber security a major concern. There is no question that both the government and private sector need each other. The unique nature of this collaboration is because of the unique nature of the domain, and we need to develop the habit of working together that hasn’t existed in the past,” Menon said.

Deputy NSA Vijay Latha Reddy, said, “The primary objective of creating a permanent mechanism for public-private partnership (PPP) in the area of cyber security is to eventually establish India as the global hub for cyber security services, products and manpower.”

Secretary, Department of Electronics and IT, J. Satyanarayana, said, “India requires a mind-boggling five lakh professionals to protect cyber space, but available talent is just a fraction of this, necessitating a rapid scale-up of capacities.”

Chairman, Communications and Digital Economy Committee of FICCI, Virat Bhatia, said, “Cyber security needs an integrated effort from the government, industry and civil society. By its very nature, cyber threats could arise from international locations including from non-state actors, which makes international cooperation at a multistakeholder level a prerequisite.”

According to the cyber security report, collaboration is invited across four issues: the setting up of a permanent JWG under the aegis of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), with representatives from government and private sector; a permanent advisory committee called ‘Joint Committee on International Cooperation and Advocacy to promote India’s national interests at various international fora; and information sharing and analysis centres in various sectors to cooperate with computer emergency response teams at the operational level. The composition of these working groups will be finalised in consultation with industry associations.