Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reportedly said that India needs to build “tech-savvy forces” to protect its digital world.
As per Business Standard, Sitharaman said that cyber sleuths were necessary to counter vested interests, which could misuse technology to threaten the country’s financial services and national security.
“At this juncture, it is important for us to recognise the new challenges facing the country’s security, and not just at the borders. Today, technology doesn’t wait to recognise borders. Technology, as much as it’s available to us to increase productivity, is also being misused by some vested interests or dark forces,” Sitharaman reportedly said.
Noting that India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) is facing “threats”, the FM said that some “competitors” were wary of India’s growth story. “There can be many well-wishers. Some people think this (India’s rise) should not be entertained, and who can challenge us,” added the FM.
Sitharaman also said that many developed nations did not possess the digital prowess that India has achieved in the past decade. “As much as you need physical force to take care of our borders, we also need forces within the country who are tech-savvy, who are also conscious of the threats before us,” Sitharaman reportedly added.
The FM’s comments come at a time when cyberattacks on Indian websites and institutions have seen a sudden rise. As per CloudSEK, India emerged as the second most targeted nation for cyber attacks globally last year, with 95 entities falling victim to data theft in 2024. Many of these digital attacks have impacted government institutions too.
In December last year, fintech SaaS startup Signzy was hit by a cybersecurity incident and launched a probe to investigate the matter. Prior to that in August, digital payments body National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said that C-Edge, a technology service provider for banks, was hit by a ransomware attack.
Similarly, in July 2024, cryptocurrency exchange WazirX suffered a major breach, which resulted in the loss of digital assets worth over $230 Mn. A month prior in June, it was reported that state-owned telecom operator BSNL suffered another data breach, which resulted in the leak of critical customer data, including SIM card information, home location register details, and even snapshots of BSNL’s SOLARIS servers.
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