Indian Counter Terrorism Capabilities Needs Rejuvenation

Terrorism is a serious problem for India and so far Indian counter terrorism responses are far from satisfactory. Whether it is traditional terrorism or cyber terrorism, India is lagging far behind. Unfortunately, a tragedy is always needed in India to wake up Indian government temporarily.

Once the tragedy is over, the concerns for national security and cyber security also subsides. On the contrary, in the name of national security and cyber security, corruption, myopic vision and e-surveillance are the only chosen options by Indian government. If you add the fact of turf war between various Indian ministries and departments, the chaotic picture of Indian national security in general and counter terrorism capabilities in particular emerges very clearly.

There is no second opinion about the fact that intelligence gathering is an essential part of national security of India. However, intelligence gathering skills developments in India are far from satisfactory. Naturally, India cannot fight with terrorism and cyber attacks with the present intelligence infrastructure of India. The present intelligence infrastructure of India is in big mess.

The intelligence infrastructure of India needs urgent rejuvenation. It is high time to move away from mere lips services and political statements and to move ahead in the direction of developing counter terrorism capabilities. We have an obvious but unresolvable terrorism dilemma in India.

With the growing use of social media by cyber criminals and terrorists, the intelligence agencies world over are engaging in open source intelligence through these social media and platforms.

Indian intelligence agencies must develop not only open source intelligence capabilities in India but they must also learn how to deal with highly sophisticated encryption usages. By limiting their capabilities to a weak encryption usage limited 40 bits encryption alone, this aim is absolutely frustrated. We must formulate a well drafted encryption policy of India that covers all the possible uses and prevention of the abuses of encryption.

India has been ignoring all these issues for many decades. It is high time to think about these issues and do some actual and hard core work in this regard.

Indian Encryption Policy Must Be Formulated

Encryption policy of India is long overdue but India has been slow in formulating this much needed policy. At the same time encryption is also a controversial issue in India that requires a balancing of conflicting interests of law enforcement requirements and personal privacy and security.

Provisions pertaining to encryption usage in India are scattered in various laws, rules and regulations of India. We do not have a centralised or dedicated legal framework for encryption related matters and this is hindering proper usage and innovation in the field of encryption in India.

The cyber law of India, as applicable through information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) has a single provisions in this regard. Section 84A of IT Act 2000 says that the Central Government may prescribe the modes or methods of encryption. Till now the Central Government has not prescribed any “modes or methods” of encryption usage in India.

We are compromising the cyber security of India, mobile security of India and mobile governance in India by insisting upon a weak encryption infrastructure. Mobile cyber security in India is not up to the mark and unencrypted communication would further increase the risks.

There are many service providers that use encryption for private and secure communications. The ministry of home affairs has been insisting upon surrendering of encryption keys of such services and in the absence of same banning such encrypted services. However, the ministry of communication and information technology has made it clear that it is not possible to do so.

India has taken too much time to resolve encryption issues and the same must be resolved as soon as possible. Encrypted services would bring both benefits and problems for India. On the benefit side, it would bring secure, private and confidential services. The problem with encryption, like any other technological service, is that it can be abused by criminals.

However, the possibility of abuse should not deter Indian government from using encryption in India. Further, Indian government must develop core cyber skills to deal with encryption related crimes rather than downsising the same and making Indian cyber and mobile security vulnerable to threats.

India needs to upgrade its intelligence infrastructure that is in real mess. Intelligence agencies need to develop intelligence gathering and analysis skills so that situations like the present one can be taken care of. E-surveillance is not a substitute for cyber skills and Indian government and its agencies must realise this truth as soon as possible. However, the call is for the Indian government to take that is shying away from taking a well informed decision in this regard.

New National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2011 Of India

Telecom Policy of India is one of the most important Policies of India. For some strange reason, the Telecom Policy of India was poorly drafted and badly implemented. Naturally, there were many “Loopholes” that gave rise to scams, bad policy decisions, financial losses to Governmental exchequer, poor consumer performances and so on.

That is a thing of past as Government of India is now planning to introduce the new National Telecom Policy (NTP) of India 2011. Although the intentions are good yet the actual execution and implementation of this intention is missing. Further, the efforts of Indian Government in general and Ministry of Communication and Information technology (MCIT) in particular are “Vague” and “Non Holistic”.

There are various “Crucial Components” of any sound, effective and robust Telecom Policy. These include, issues pertaining to Encryption, Telecom Security, wider Broadband Penetration, Telecom Equipment Security, E-Surveillance and Phone Tapping Policies, Lawful Interceptions and Eavesdropping Policies, Harmonisation of National Security and Civil liberties, etc.

I have labeled the present efforts of Indian Government and MCIT as vague and non holistic because these components must be an “Essential and Integral Part” of the proposed Indian National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2011. However, instead of being a “Composite Telecom Policy” the proposed Policy is not even considering these aspects “Singularly” and “Individually”. In short, these components are “Missing” from the proposed Telecom Policy of India.

This would again produce a Policy Document that would be “Open and Prone” to many sorts of Irregularities and Misuses. Consumer and Telecom Companies Disputes, Privacy Violations cases, Civil Liberties Violations, etc may also arise in future.

Fortunately, till now the new Telecom Policy of India 2011 has not been formulated and implemented. The concerns and suggestions mentioned above can still be incorporated in the same by MCIT Minister Kapil Sibal and Government of India.