Cyber security is the pillar for national security, economic stability: TN IT Minister
Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, said on Wednesday that cyber security is no longer a technical concern in an interconnected world but a fundamental pillar of national security, economic stability, and societal trust.
Inaugurating the 27th Annual Cyber Security Conference, which is being held in Chennai on Wednesday, Rajan said that in today’s interconnected world, cyber security is the fundamental pillar of national security, economic stability, and societal trust.
He said that in 2023, there were about 79 million cyber attacks in India, putting the country in third place globally in terms of the number of attacks. This underscores India’s growing status as it progresses towards digital transformation.
The average cost of a data breach in India is over $2.3 million and as per IBM’s cost of data breach report, the average cost globally averages at $5 million, Rajan said.
According to him, over half of the cyber security breached organizations had cited a shortage of critical staff as the reason.
Pointing out that Tamil Nadu is not immune to cyber-attacks, Rajan said between Jan-Sept 2024 loss due to cyber financial fraud in the state was about Rs.1,100 crore.
He also said the Tamil Nadu government is taking innovative steps to boost cyber security by building resilient infrastructure, and setting up cyber security training centre for capacity building to bridge the skill gap and collaborative governance.
Kumar Jayant, Additional Chief Secretary, Information Technology and Digital Services, Tamil Nadu said that there were several intrusions in the government’s old websites.
Jayant said the government is creating teams to handle cyber security and the developers serving the government are not aware of the protocols to be followed to prevent attacks on the websites and portals.
The two-day cyber security conference that has returned to India after a six-year gap deliberates on the theme `The Battle for Cyber Supremacy’.
The conference was organized by the Association of anti-Virus Asia Researchers (AVAR).
According to AVAR, India’s cybersecurity market is projected to reach $10.90 billion by 2029.
India’s anti-virus major K7 Computing’s CEO Kesavardhanan J said: “With the theme ‘The Battle for Cyber Supremacy,’ this year’s summit will address the most pressing issues in the cyber threat landscape, from generative artificial intelligence (AI) to supply chain vulnerabilities.”
