Kaspersky, in collaboration with the USI-CyberPeace Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE), had successfully conducted a joint cyber drill for India’s critical information infrastructure (CII) sectors, at the United Service Institution (USI) of India recently. The event brought together close to 100 key stakeholders from various CII sectors, including defence, power, and oil and gas, as well as representatives from regulatory bodies.
The Joint Secretary of India’s National Security Council Secretariat, Vinai Kumar Kanaujia, was the Chief Guest at the event. His presence highlighted the increasing importance of cybersecurity as a strategic issue, and the emphasis that the Government of India is placing on it, given the potential lasting impact of cyberattacks across multiple vital sectors.
Genie Sugene Gan, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Asia Pacific, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Kaspersky, delivered the keynote presentation at the event, covering specific challenges faced by India’s CII sectors, and the need for a paradigm shift towards systems that are secure-by-design, rather than being constantly reactive to sporadic threats as and when they arise. This could be addressed by Kaspersky’s Cyber Immunity vision.
“Cyber Immunity should be an aspirational target for CIIs in India. Given that no cybersecurity vendor can guarantee 100% protection, systems should be designed such that the cost of an attack on a company exceeds the potential benefits, so that an attack becomes economically unprofitable to would-be attackers. The Indian market, with its vast talent pool in technology and a huge demand for protective solutions for CIIs, is fertile ground for Cyber Immune solutions to be developed. We hope that today’s event is not a once-off, but the start of deep conversations with CII stakeholders in India on how next-generation cybersecurity solutions can be developed,” said Genie Sugene Gan.
The event also saw attendees participating in a Kaspersky Interactive Protection Simulation (KIPS) exercise, where they were introduced to scenarios simulating various threats that their organisations were facing, designed based on real-life cyberattack incidents. This dynamic learning environment allowed participants to enhance their decision-making skills, deepen their understanding of cybersecurity principles, and raise their awareness towards the importance of cooperation between business units beyond cybersecurity teams.
Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President of CyberPeace, said: “The USI-CyberPeace CCoE collaborated with Kaspersky in gathering key decision-makers across various CII sectors in India, to take part in this meaningful exercise that builds up cyber resilience for participating organisations. Partnerships such as this are key to India’s cybersecurity ecosystem. Through these efforts, CyberPeace is committed to helping the CII sector develop cyber resilience and ensure operational continuity while proactively preventing and addressing cyber threats. We look forward to fostering a comprehensive culture of robust cybersecurity preparedness across the entire ecosystem through this partnership”.
Major General Pawan Anand, Distinguished Fellow from the USI, also commented on his takeaways on Cyber Immunity and its relevance to the military: “The secure information of the military needs to be guardrailed, and Kaspersky’s aim to offer Cyber Immunity is welcome. Being more proactive and not defensive in cybersecurity should be the goal for today”.