Software lobby Nasscom formed a team led by NIIT Ltd chairman Rajendra Pawar which will study cybersecurity threats, recommend 
how to tackle them and explore ways to create opportunities out of them.
The Nasscom Cyber Security Task Force will also script a blueprint to make India a hub for cybersecurity solutions, develop cybersecurity research and development and create a pool of cyber security experts.
“The prime minister had called out the industry for creating a cybersecurity task force and turning the threat into an opportunity during the Nasscom’s 25th anniversary,” Pawar said on Monday. “We believe the threat perception will drive the recognition of the opportunity to develop the cyber security market.”
The taskforce will help grow the local cyber security industry from its 1% share of the overall information technology-business process management (BPM) market to 10% by 2025. It will also work towards training and certifying 1 million cybersecurity professionals and developing 100-plus security product companies from India in the same time period. The task force held its first meeting on Monday.
“Cybersecurity is an important priority for Nasscom. This task force will study the Indian cybersecurity ecosystem to identify issues and challenges and develop an action plan to address the priority issues,” said Mohan Reddy, chairman, Nasscom. “It will also identify possible intervention opportunities for the Indian IT industry in global cybersecurity space and bring together stakeholders from across the board to develop cutting-edge technologies and address the global market requirements. Learnings from global countries will be undertaken to understand how to catalyse the security product ecosystem in India”.
At present, the total IT security market in India stands at $77 billion, which includes the security products market.The security products market in India is expected to be around or $250 million or around Rs.1,500 crore. The security products market grew 50% in last three years and is expected to grow 70% in next three years.
Pawar said that the industry plans to “size up the opportunity in the cybersecurity space, and develop and shape up the market” for not only big companies but security product start-ups as well.
“The cyber threat landscape is more than cybercrimes such as financial frauds or identity theft; it includes cyber attacks on government agencies, companies and critical infrastructure including banks and telecom networks,” said Pawar. “It is also a question of sovereignty of states and nations.”
In the past, there have been cyber attacks on the Indian Navy and the Delhi airport’s T3 terminal. Terrorists also heavily used the Internet during the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, according to the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), which is part of Nasscom.
“Social media has made the cybersecurity threat pervasive as new age social media users are less concerned about security,” said Pawar, adding the social media platforms are being used for spreading rumours to create fear in communities, as well as for vested interests to initiate movements against states.
The task force will have four working groups for developing the cybersecurity market, developing technology, building workforce and creating a policy framework. It will have people from DSCI, government agencies including CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) and Cert-in (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), industry from across IT, BPM and Internet companies, banks, telcos and the academia.
Some of the big companies in the Indian security product space include Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Wipro Ltd. The first set of recommendations from the task force is expected in 8-12 weeks, Pawar said.
