India Needs Homegrown Cybersecurity Tech

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) India cannot depend on external solutions for cybersecurity, and it must have fully home-grown technology in this space, a senior government official said on Friday.

Speaking after releasing a whitepaper on Quantum Cyber Readiness by CERT-In and cybersecurity firm SISA, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan expressed concern on the race to develop quantum computers globally, which is perceived as capable of breaking any encryption that exists at present.

"There has to be greater cybersecurity awareness. There has to be greater awareness of making sure that we pay adequate attention to the space so that capacity is developed in the country, because this is one space where we cannot depend on anybody else. This is one area where we must have fully homegrown solutions, both hardware and software," Krishnan said.

He said that cybersecurity is not like any other technology space where solutions from any other place can be used.

According to the paper on Quantum Cyber Readiness, any data requiring
protection beyond 2030 should be considered at immediate risk.

"Nation-states and sophisticated threat actors are likely already
harvesting and storing encrypted data, anticipating future quantum decryption capabilities," the report said.

Executive Order issued by the US on January 16, 2025, formally ordered governmental departments to start post-quantum cryptography transitions within specified timeframes (60-270 days).

Krishnan said there is serious work required to be done in the space of quantum and cryptography.

"The basic issue is that even if you have one computer, which is a quantum computer, which is capable of breaking cryptography, then everybody else is at risk," he said.

Krishnan said that even before starting the use of quantum computers, there is a need for cryptographic standards which are up to the mark for data protection.

"So, even in a classical computer, you must have work being done on post-quantum cryptography. Everyone who uses computers needs to be aware of this, and needs to have a cryptographic tool, which can protect their communication, data and protect everything else from a post-quantum or quantum world threat," Krishnan said.

In March, the government approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) with an outlay of around Rs 6,000 crore, spread over 8 years.

Krishnan said that out of around Rs 1,000 crore that has to be spent from the Ministry of Electronics on the IT side, around Rs 513 crore has already been allocated for various projects on quantum technology.

The report said organisations must understand that the quantum threat clock started ticking the moment sensitive data was first transmitted or stored using quantum-vulnerable encryption.

"The threat is immediate for any information that must remain confidential beyond the estimated arrival of cryptographically relevant quantum computers," the report said.