It was recently reported that in the month of August 2000, 52 Indian sites were hacked by sympathizers of Kashmir militants.  Apart from this organised attack, there have been several isolated attacks by unidentified hackers on Indian websites in recent times.  So far, the sites attacked are mainly the Government sites including the Indian Army site, SEBI, BARC, and sites of some educational institutions like IIM Indore and Mumbai University.

These are pointers to the raising of a new wave of crime viz. “Cyber Terrorism”.  As responsible Citizens of the Net Society and of the Indian nation, what should be our response to this situation?

Shall we say that it is the responsibility of the Government to tackle this menace?
Is it the headache of the individual network owners to protect themselves?
Can we wait until something more serious happens such as “Cyber Bombing” of the BSE and NSE sites?..or
When hackers get into the networks of our IT icons, Infosys, Wipro, TCS and Satyam and play havoc with their work?

Knowing the limitations of the resources of the Government on such technology intensive issues, it is necessary for the private sector, particularly the experts in the IT industry to wake up and take the initiative in finding a solution to the emerging problem which will grow bigger as India stakes its claim to be the IT superpower. 

The first step in this direction is an attempt to bring the industry together on a platform to debate the issue. 

Netizen’s Forum for Credible Cyber Regulations, a voluntary body of Netizens trying build a broad platform for collective action on such matters, proposes that a  “Seminar be held in to discuss whether a “Computer   Emergency Response Team” (CERT) is needed for this purpose in India. 

It is proposed that the event should be a “Seminar” in which papers would be presented from representatives of the IT industry, Government, Educational Institutons, Public etc., on the theme. A Follow-up  committee would take note of the suggestions and give a shape to the CERT if a consensus emerges. 

In order to take this process forward, the undersigned invites Industry leaders in Chennai and Bangalore to join the “Seminar Coordination Committee” under formation.  This committee would look for sponsors for the event and finalise the other details.  Interested persons and Companies are requested to contact Naavi through e-mail (naavi@vsnl.com).

 Dated: September 18, 2000