Domain Name System Abuse & Scaling Up Cyber Hygiene: During & Post COVID

Tamil Nadu to make, Cyber Swachhta Kendra, a mass movement as it readies to launch its own Cert Tamil Nadu, a portal, in partnership with Cert India. As a leading state in IT, the states also readies, to have its own cyber security policy as shared by Mr Hans Raj Verma, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Dept of IT , Government of Tamil Nadu.

Odisha invite young startups, entrepreneurs, private companies to collaborate with state agencies as state prepares for new IT Policy to be launched in November 2020 , said Hon’ble Minister Mr Tusharkanti Behara, for IT & Youth Affairs, Govt of Odisha

Addressing the program of ASSOCHAM as Partner state, on behalf of Government of Tamil Nadu, Department IT, Mr Hans Raj Verma, Additional Chief Secretary said Tamil Nadu is a developed state technologically in terms of Technology intervention at Govt level as well as in terms of engagement with industry , in terms of export from the state and employment its offering. Government has been among the fast few to adopt the technology systems across its various functions . Laying emphasis on the need of Cyber Swachhta Kendras he said there is a need that these Kendras become mass movement like swatch abhiyan of Government of India. Citing exemplary work of the state he said, the state has formed high level review committee and has a cyber security officer present in each government department. With increased work from home trend cyber hygiene need to be adopted en mass and to be the second nature of each individual. Laying emphasis on cyber hygiene and cyber security he said state is all set to form its own cyber security policy and shortly the state will launch Cert Tamil Nadu , a portal in partnership with Cert In.

Hon’ble Minister Mr Tusharkanti Behara, for IT & Youth Affairs, Govt of Odisha, invited participation of private industry and said state is fast developing necessary support mechanism and shall soon have new IT policy and is committed towards technology sector development. Appreciating the timely program organised by ASSOCHAM, he said Covid 19 has been a huge challenge and the state has worked hand in hand with Govt of India for taking the necessary measures. He shared, Odisha state online application developed way back in 2009 has become a key enabler of service during Covid times. State is continuing upgrading its IT infrastructure to support the need of its people and is focusing on developing centre of excellence. Work from home, issue of migrant labours are all new challenges that have emerged in recent times ; cyber hygiene and awareness among people on cyber attacks and threats is very critical during this time and cyber security policy is most important and state is committed to work towards the same.

Program had presence of Dr Sanjay Bahl DG Cert India, MEITY, Govt of India, he said DNS is the basis of all internet related activities today, Domain Name System(DNS) was initially not designed with security features and hence the complications that are existing today. Covid times has seen exponential rise in registration of domain names by malicious actors, spreading misinformation or running frauds. There has been 657% increase in corona virus related domain registration. There has been rise in 569 % increase in activities such as malware, ransomware There has been rise in 788% increase in scam and other such activities. He stressed on need for coordination between agencies both national and international to ensure legitimate Domain name registration process can be setup. DNS policing at enterprise level is the need. He said creating user awareness on securing self and own IoT devices is important and Cert In has taken several initiatives in this regard. Cyber crime reporting portal and cyber swachhta Kendras are here to help people and are citizen centric one of it’s the kind global initiative by Govt of India with an agenda of maintaining hygienic cyber space.

Kerala has shown the path in crime prevention by opting for coordinated effort in cyber realm and has gone for PPP model, Kerala Cyber Dome. Three years in working, the project engages banks, ethical hackers, students, IT companies with focus on research to meet new challenges, prevent, cyber crime, reach to public for Cyber Hygiene, said Mr Manoj Abraham, Additional Director General of Police, Kerala Police. Sharing his thoughts from law enforcement agency perspective, he said the digitally enable world we live in offers its own set of challenges and during Covid time there has been increase in cyber crime; crime against women children have gone up by 200%. He said the cyber crimes these days borderless as the actor need not be present in the state and this becomes a challenge for any law enforcement agency as these malicious actors may just be sitting outside of the state. Prevention therefore is very critical and state of Kerala is very actively using social media to connect with people and spread cyber hygiene.

The program began with a learning session on Domain Name System Abuse, conducted by Ashwin Rangan, CIIO ICANN as he shared information on various cyber attacks and possible solutions. He was joined in by Mr Samiran Gupta, India Head ICANN who presented his thoughts on recent trends in cyber crime especially during Covid times. A panel discussion was organized with Cyber experts Mr Prashanthkunar B V from United Kingdom sharing UK Cyber Security perspective, as he shared the dais to discuss the challenges being faced by corporate and some of the solutions that can considered , with Col Inderjeet Singh, Dr Lopa Mudraa Basuu as the legal aspect was brought in by Ms N S Nappinai, Advocate, Supreme Court of India. Program had presence of Industry members along Mr Surojit Samanta and Mr Taranjit Singh Chair and Co Chair of ASSOCHAM ER.Ms Perminder Kaur Director ASSOCHAM in her opening remark said in the new normal as India readies for transition to Digital India and Industry 4.0 it’s important a systematic approach towards cyber hygiene is adopted.