Antony asks military to prepare against cyber attacks

NEW DELHI - Days after reports of Chinese hackers stealing confidential information from Indian security establishments, Defence Minister A.K. Antony Friday asked armed forces chiefs to prepare a crisis management action plan to counter cyber terrorism.“Of late, extraordinary and unprecedented cyber crimes have taken place across the globe, exposing gaping holes in cyber security systems,” Antony said while addressing the Unified Commanders’ Conference here.“Although defence services at all levels have taken steps to counter cyber threat through stringent implementation of cyber security policy, there is still a requirement to ensure that all loop holes in this regard are suitably plugged.”Antony asked the armed forces to coordinate closely with various national agencies to defend against cyber attacks.“A few recent cases are reminders of our own vulnerabilities. Close interaction with national agencies like Computer and Emergency Response Team (CERT), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), home ministry and ministry of communication & IT to prepare crisis management action plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism is essential,” he added.He said the future of optimal military power lies in joint operations that needs to start from the planning stage itself.Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army Chief General V.K. Singh, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and Chief of Integrated Staff Committee Air Marshal S.C. Mukul were present on the occasion.A defence spokesperson said: “Antony assured the chiefs that there will never be a paucity of funds for the modernisation of the armed forces.“However, he asked them to control the expenditure in the forces by adopting various mechanisms such as increased use of technology, integration of the three services, adopting joint training, procedures and uniform inventories,” the official said.

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