India is setting up a national cyber-security architecture to protect
critical information infrastructure and other networks, National
Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon said Monday.
"The National
Security Council has approved the architecture in principle and we are
working out the implementation details with the ministries and agencies
concerned, which we hope to take to cabinet for approval soon," said
Menon, delivering the eighth Raja Ramanna Memorial Lecture at the
state-run National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) here.
The
proposed architecture will involve monitoring, certification and
assurance of networks by designated agencies and bodies in accordance
with the law. It will also involve capacity and authority for operations
in cyber-space.
"The goal is to prevent sabotage, espionage and
other forms of cyber-attacks, which could hurt us. A national cyber-security coordinator in the National Security Council secretariat will
bring this work together," Menon said.
In this context, Menon said
the ministry of communications and information technology is in the
process of setting a dedicated silicon wafer fabrication (fab) facility
to produce advanced version of chips for use in high-tech, sensitive and
vital installations such satellites, nuclear power stations, defence
establishments involved in the production of weapons, missiles and
electronic warfare.
"The fab facility will produce semiconductor
chips used in the making of national assets spanning diverse areas such
as space, nuclear, military, information networks, security networks and
data centres," he said.
The architecture will also protect
critical information infrastructure and public networks with security
status and ability to respond to events and threats.
"We are
fortunate in having the people with skills, hard and software tools and
knowledge to take up the ambitious project," Menon added.
Ramanna
was a distinguished nuclear scientist and is considered as father of the
Indian nuclear programme of over four decades and architect of the
country's first nuclear test in May 1974. He passed away in 2004.