Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, department of Science and Technology, Government of India, “ “The Government is committed to bring India to a leadership position in cyber security. IIT Kanpur’s C3i hub will focus on safeguarding cyberspace including critical infrastructure.” The government is promoting Make-in India cyber security solutions to counter rising threats from neighbouring countries, particularly China. It may be recalled that
failure in Mumbai was allegedly linked to a cyber attackers from China.
Similarly, the government is trying to promote make in India equipment for critical sectors like banking, railways, telecom and power. Speaking during the event, Prof Abhay Karandikar, IIT-K director said, “We are excited to launch the first set of start-ups cohort in cyber security. Over the next few years, C3iHub is committed to create a vibrant ecosystem of cyber security start-ups fostering world class innovations”.
The start-ups, supported by C3iHub at IIT Kanpur, will innovate to disrupt the cyber security space, focusing on design and development of services and products to safeguard India’s critical infrastructure. A large number of these start-ups will also be working on anti-drone technology which will be deployed for protection of critical infrastructure along the border. An IAF base in Jammu was attacked last month using drones, prompting the union government to undertake a security audit of infrastructure along the border. In the past one year, BSF alone has sighted 61 drones along the Pakistan border.