India gets its first cyber security chief

The Union cabinet has approved the appointment of Gulshan Rai, current head of CERT.IN, as the cyber security coordinator. Rai was in line to head the cyber security department but the government was facing continuous opposition from various ministries such as home, telecom and law. The position is powerful and would take out powers from the said ministries.

The department, under Rai's control, can work in the direction of safeguarding India from cyber attacks-homegrown or international. It is learnt that many senior officials had pitched for the job. Gulshan Rai presently heads the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN). His task would primarily be to coordinate among various agencies involved in cyber security. Rai would be based at the National Security Council Secretariat.

India has been facing a torrent of cyber attacks. Hence the move has come at a time when governments throughout the world are fortifying their networks, databases and infrastructure to keep cyber attacks at bay. Experts have already warned the Indian government to take measures to keep cyber security on top priority.