Global Cyber Security Index (GCI) 2020

Recently, India has been ranked 10th in Global Cyber Security Index (GCI) 2020 released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations (UN) agency for information and communication technologies (ICT).

The US topped the chart, followed by the UK and Saudi Arabia tied on the second position, while Estonia was ranked third in the index.

GCI assessment is done on the basis of performance on five parameters of cybersecurity including- 

• Legal measures,
• Technical measures,
• Organisational measures,
• Capacity development, and
• cooperation

Increasing pace of Cyber attacks in India

In today’s era, despite several measures taken, India has a high rate of cyber attacks which is increasing day by day as India is one of the largest internet and smartphone economies with 624 million internet users across the country. The primary reason for such an increasing number of cyber attacks is the digitization of Society.

As of now, Cyberspace is a 133 billion dollar economy which may reach 403 billion dollars by 2027. By 2025, Cyber crime may account for 10.5 trillion dollars of revenue loss as number of cyber attacks is increasing by 10-15% every year.

In 2020, India has recorded 7 lakh cyber security incidents which is more than the combined data of the last 4 years. Around 71% of cyber attacks are financial related attacks which is a primary concern for the country.

Challenges faced in tackling Cyber crime 

• Lack of awareness about the evolving technologies among the masses.
• Absence of data privacy lawfor protecting the data of Government, Business and Individuals who are key drivers for the country’s development.
• Use of offensive technologies and encrypted appsby terrorists to spread fake news, hack the personal data etc.
• Tracing fake propaganda accounts.