Cybersecurity pivotal in an AI-5G era!, Telecom News, ET Telecom

A significant rise in cyber threats and cybersecurity attacks poses a significant obstacle to enterprises’ ambitions for digital transformation especially considering the inevitable integration of 5G and artificial intelligence (AI).

As India forges ahead on digital connectivity, the cyber threat landscape is expected to continuously evolve, as per a recent report which placed India on the 80th position as the most targeted country in cybercrime. Another report ranked India at the 5th in the list of most breached countries with 5.3 million leaked accounts in 2023. Globally, a total of 299.8 million accounts were breached.

India’s department of telecommunications has recently launched Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for coordination among the stakeholders aimed at curbing misuse of telecom resources in cyber-crime and financial fraud. Besides, ‘Chakshu’ facility was launched on Sanchar Saathi portal to report suspected fraud communications. The initiatives have been launched to empower consumers to proactively report suspected fraud communication which will go a long way in curbing such incidents as India moves towards a digital nation. A direction to telecom operators was also issued to block 28,200 mobile handsets used in carrying cyber crimes while 20 lakh mobile numbers associated with these handsets have to be re-verified.

The cybersecurity market reached $6.06 billion in 2023 in India, however, cyber fraud and crime persist unchecked due to consumer awareness gaps and constant exploitation of evolving technologies by spammers.

The rise in such incidents has resulted in a heightened demand for cybersecurity professionals. However, due to a shortage of skilled manpower, the issues have become more entrenched. India represented just six per cent of global cybersecurity jobs and the demand-supply gap stood at 30 per cent, projecting a major skill challenge in the industry, according to experts.

And implementing 5G networks & AI applications across various industries will throw up new cybersecurity challenges in the IoT space, network security risks etc. However, by deploying effective security measures such as encryption, multi-factor authentication, network segmentation, threat intelligence, and security testing, these risks can be minimized.

The government and the private sector have been working to enhance cybersecurity measures via multiple initiatives. But despite these efforts, challenges remain for creating a strong infrastructure, a pool of skilled cybersecurity professionals, and a robust collaboration between the government, industry, and academia to effectively combat cyber threats.