Israel India | Business Guibe | 2017

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062 > Cyber, Defense & HLS > Cyber Security: Challenges
Israel-India > Business Guide > 2017
As India embarks on the digital
transformation initiative through the
major government initiatives -“Digital
India”, “Make In India”, “100 Smart Cities”– there
is a critical need to build requisite capability and
capacity in the cyber space.Withmore andmore
government facilities going digital in line with
Digital India especially post demonetization,
cyber security becomes an integral part of this
national mission to ensure national security,
enterprise security, and individual privacy.
India has begun to address its Cyber
Security challenges in a serious way. The
Indian Government published its first-
ever National Cyber Security Policy, which
emphasizes research and development
of indigenous security technology and
enhanced public-private partnership. It
further encourages private organizations
and companies to adopt more effective IT
regulations and infrastructure in conformity
with international best practices and calls for
developing a workforce of cyber specialists.
Also, India has set up the National Critical
Information Infrastructure Protection Center
(NCIIPC) charged with protecting assets in
sectors like defense, finance, energy, and
telecommunications.The Indian Computer
Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) also
protects cyber assets in non-critical areas
and acts as coordinating agency for any
cyber emergencies.
India-Israel Agreement on Cooperation
in Cyber Security
To overcome such an important challenge,
India had an agreement with Israel for a sharp
increase in collaboration on Cyber Security
issues in 2013. Under this agreement, both
Governments recognized the need to build a
sustainable education and training program
in Cyber Security as well as sustainable
R&D in India. CII, India’s largest industry
association,came forward in order to execute
and strengthen this partnership with the
following goals:
• Strengthen India’s internal Cyber Security
(both in government and the private sector)
• Enable a mutually beneficial commercial
partnership between highly innovative
Israeli startups and major Indian IT firms
with an established customer base amongst
Fortune 500 companies
• Strengthen the academic relationships
between Israel and India
CII has also been actively working on fostering
partnerships between India and Israel. The
Harold Hartog School of Government & Policy
atTel AvivUniversity andCII have beenworking
closely since 2008 to engender a partnership
based on long-lasting collaborations.Also,in
order to achieve above goals,both countries
created an India-Israel Cyber SecurityWorking
Group with the following functions.
• Cyber Security Education & Training
Workshops
• Cyber SecurityWorkshops for Policymakers
• Cyber Security Research and
Development Efforts
• Cyber Security CXO Forum
• The Annual International Cyber Security
Conference
What Action has been Taken This Far
India and Israel have already started working
on these functions,especially Cyber Mission
to Tel Aviv University. Two such missions
have already been done and the next one
is scheduled for 24-29 June 2017.Also,a joint
seminar with Tel Aviv University on Cyber
Security was conducted on 20 December
2016 in New Delhi.
During the visit of Hon’ble President of
Israel to India, both countries expressed
their appreciation for the growing problem
of cyber crime and vowed their allegiance
toward growing India-Israel commitment to
cooperation for battling cyber crime and its -
serious risks to national and economic security
frommalicious cyber-activity and agreed to
cooperate on enhancing operational sharing
of cyber threat information,examining how
international law applies in cyberspace and
working together to build agreement on
norms of responsible state behavior.
India can provide the requiredmanpower to
create a dedicated cyber security task force
that may operate with individual enterprises
in the public-private and government sphere
or they can be combined into a united and
organized body or institution.The growing
global cyber security challenges demand
that India and the Israel seek ways to build
a better foundation of mutual trust when it
comes to cooperation on intelligence and
counter-terrorism.
Source: Confederation of Indian Industry
At the inauguration of the seminar on Cyber Security held in New Delhi on 20 December 2016.
L to R: Prof Joseph Klafter, President,Tel Aviv University;Tarun Vijay, Ex MP Rajya Sabha, India;
Ambassador Daniel Carmon, Ambassador to Israel in India; Dr Arvind Gupta, Deputy National Security
Advisor, Government of India; Mr Vijay Sethi, Co-chairman, CII Core Group on Cyber Security and CIO
and Head of CSR, Hero MotoCorp
Working Together to battle Cyber Crime
India & Israel agree to cooperate on enhancing operational sharing of cyber
threat information