Cyber Workshop held for Shanghai Corporation Organization delegation

Gachibowli: National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), in association with Data Security Council of India (DSCI), hosted a two-day 'Cyber Workshop' for Shanghai Corporation Organization (SCO) members at Cyient here.

The programme was inaugurated by Lt Gen (Retd) Dr Rajesh Pant, the National Cyber Security Coordinator of NSCS. S M Sahai, the Additional Secretary of NSCS, along with TS Principal Secretary (IT) Jayesh Ranjan were present. Inaugurating the programme, Dr Pant said, "The ever-expanding cyber space has inverted the century-old established theories of jurisdiction, which were deeply rooted in the concept of territorial and physical boundaries and sovereignty.

The identification and mitigation of cyberattacks has become more complicated and difficult to deal with. Cyberattacks cannot be seen limited only to loss of financial assets and intellectual property, but there are also issues associated with the security of critical information infrastructure and public safety."

Sahai highlighted the importance of cooperation between SCO member-states in countering the menace of terrorism, separatism and extremism. He said that the fact that India hosted the workshop showed its commitment to offer the expertise available, especially in the cyber domain, to the SCO member-states in eliminating terrorism.

He also said, "The job roles of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies must change in line with the rapid changes in the technology. The issues and challenges related to globalisation of the criminal evidence cannot be solved in isolation, and cooperation among the member-states of SCO is very crucial."

Representatives from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Executive Committee of RATS-SCO participated in the workshop. Jayesh Ranjan said the cyber workshop was a great initiative in bringing together the member nations to collaborate, co-operate and exchange ideas and skills to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

Rama Vedashree, the CEO of DSCI, said the workshop provided an excellent opportunity for the audience to enhance their understanding of the need of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling cybercrimes and also realising the imperatives of having digital forensics capabilities in corporate and government environments. After joining the SCO in 2017, India has been actively contributing to realise the goals of the SCO, she added.