India to set up National Cyber Security Coordination Centre to secure country’s cyberspace

Chennai:

India will be setting up National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC) to fully secure the country’s cyber space and strengthen the country’s cyber security posture, according to Union Minister for Information and Communication Technology and Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad

Speaking during the Regional Editors’ Conference at Chennai here on Wednesday, Prasad said that NCCC will ensure near real time threat assessment and situational awareness that will help in analysis and generation of timely alerts and periodic reports.

The minister said that NCCC Project has been approved for implementation and technical approach and implementation plan has been prepared.

Prasad said that a massive training programme will be undertaken to train the police officers and personnel at police stations across the country.

Apart from the police, the important organs of the government including the judicial officers will be sensitized adequately on this issue.

On the Omnibus Bill by United States which introduces hefty bill H1B visas and L1 visas, he said the issue is being taken up with US officials. NASSCOM has predicted that the hike in visa bills will result in loss of Rs 400 crore.

The minister also said the consumption of electronic goods in India is worth $80billion. By 2020, the consumption would increase to $400 million.

He also said that during the current financial year mobile phones worth Rs 94,000 crore will manufactured when compared to Rs 54,000 crore worth of mobile devices manufactured last year.

He said linking Aaadhar with bank accounts under has saved the country Rs 36,500 crore in the last two years which could have gone to middlemen.

Giving a digital profile of India he said that the country boasts of 104 crore Aadhaar users, 103 crore mobile phones and 40 Crore internet users which may soon touch the mark of 50 crore internet users.

He said that 50 financial institutions including Barclays, Citibank and others have shown keen interest in Postal department’s Payment Bank branches to reach out to rural India.

He said the government is planning to strengthen 2.50 lakh village panchayats through optical fibre network, which was started in 2011. For three years, total network laid was 358 kms, but in the last two years 1,39,000 kms was covered and around 57,000 plus village panchayats were covered.  States like Kerala are covered fully, by next year the Government plans to cover the entire panchayat.

The second step would be common service centres and extending them to have Internet service centres to offer entire service through internet