The Centre focuses on issues related to strategic technologies that have a potential impact on national security. Its main focus is on critical technologies and space technologies. The Centre is engaged in tracking and trend analysis of issues related to Space Security and Cyber Security. The other mandate of the Centre is to undertake research on Biological and Chemical Weapons with a focus on studying the dangers of proliferation and terrorism. The Centre is responsible for the publication of the CBW Magazine – a bi-annual magazine which covers a wide range of issues related to Chemical and Biological Weapons.
The article makes an attempt to bring to the fore the various factors which are considered in the due process of attribution of a cyber-attack and the correlation of credible attribution with cyber deterrence. The focal point of the article is a three-step approach to model the decision-making process behind attribution of cyber-attacks using Bayesian Belief Networks and a case study to elucidate on the functioning of the model.
A dominant paradigm for militarised cyber operations, owing to a growing interest in such actions, is seeking an ability to strike back and launch cyber counter attacks immediately after being attacked. This commentary challenges view based on the argument that it leads to a contra-productive tit-for-tat game with no decisive or deterrent outcome. It argues that cyber attacks are information, which an initially passive targeted society can gather to refine and consolidate its cybersecurity and over time receive an advantage over the initial attacker.
The term ‘hybrid warfare’ has been used by American military experts for more than a decade already. However, until recently, there was no officially accepted definition of the term, and, thus, an ambiguity existed over its meaning. As per the analysis of recent local conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine by the US political and military elite, hybrid warfare is a conflict where actors blend techniques, capabilities and resources to achieve their objectives.
India, the IT nation, did not make a news splash at CyberTech 2014. That is worth a passing thought. Because cyber is the fifth and new domain of warfare, after land, sea, air and space.
In this commentary, I will use strategic cyberwar theory1 to explain why India has a higher level of cyber resilience than several of its potential adversaries. Even if India has challenges in its government-led cyber defence,2 there are cyber resilience benefits to be drawn from the way Indian society operates, functions and is constitutionally designed and accepted by its constituents, independently of any cyber defence efforts. First, the concept of strategic cyberwar.
It might be difficult to prove any weaponisation intent or man-made origins to the SARS-CoV-2. Yet, the mass deaths and disruption caused by the virus forebodes imminent exploitation of biological agents for political ends.
Riding the technology wave, China eyes global dominance of RMB as a reserve currency and a favourable international monetary environment for its economic development.
Humanity is much better equipped today to mitigate the loss in life and collateral economic damage resulting from a pandemic, as demonstrated through the deployment of new-age tools such as artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, neural networks and internet of things.
With a new found celebrity status among the video conferencing applications, Zoom now faces a massive privacy and security threat as the platform’s default settings are not secure enough.
Even after five decades of its entry-into-force, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is largely seen as a Cold War era instrument that has failed to fulfill the objective of creating a pathway towards a credible disarmament process.
While maintaining cyber hygiene in these disruptive times is indeed a challenge, each organisation should work towards putting in place a tailor-made work-from-home cyber defence strategy.
TikTok has hooked youngsters around the world. What is worrisome is the lack of understanding about the long-term implications of such social media apps with regard to data protection and national security.
The existing approach to cyber security is heavily tilted towards practising deterrence by denial, essentially by building defences. However, the concept of deterrence needs further tweaking to make it workable in cyberspace.
Nuclear doctrines and postures are dynamic processes that evolve with the security environment. Twenty years after India’s nuclear doctrine was first drafted, the time is ripe for a comprehensive review and suitable revisions.
