Thursday, 25 September 2014

India Faces Severe Shortage of Cyber Security Pros

India currently has 22,000 certified cyber security professionals, but will need 4.7 lakh by 2015 to protect its IT infrastructure.

Close on the heels of the Chinese incursion in Ladakh and hacking of India's defence websites, cyber security experts have warned that the huge difference in number of trained web security professionals in the two nations could spell doom for India.

Analysts said that India currently has around 22,000 certified cyber security professionals, which is significantly lesser than the requirement of 77,000 personnel. The current number is miniscule when compared to the nearly 25 million "cyber warriors" in China. According to recent data, India would need 4.7 lakh cyber security professionals by 2015 to protect its IT infrastructure.

"It is highly likely that the third world war will be fought not with armies but in the cyber world and India is not prepared for such attacks," said Akash Agarwal, country manager of International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC Council), one of the biggest global organisations dealing in certification and training on cyber security.


"We are very vulnerable right now. Even smaller countries like North Korea have around 15,000 cyber security professionals, which is not far behind India considering the size of the two countries," added Agarwal, whose office in based in Hyderabad.

Agarwal's fears do not seen unfounded as it was only in March that reports of suspected Chinese hackers breaking into the computers of India's top military organisation, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) surfaced. This was touted as among the biggest security breaches in the country.

Analysts said that around 42 million Indians become victims of cyber crime annually and 85% of websites, both public and private, have complained about being hacked at least once. Several cases even go unreported as companies do not wish to admit their vulnerabilities. 

"The people who we use to solve our information security-related problems are not officially trained. More certified personnel are needed in order to be more prepared," said Srinivas Prasad, general secretary of Cyberabad Security Council.

Meanwhile, experts pointed out that Hyderabad could soon be a hub for ethical hacking and cyber security, with increasing interest among students and growing opportunities. EC Council has tied up with the Institute of Advanced Network Technology (IANT) which has over 100 centres across the country to train nearly 10,000 students in ethical hacking. It has also decided to tie up with 50 universities in India by the end of this year. As per a report by Gartner in 2011, the IT security market in India is estimated to be around USD 218 million (2012), with an annual growth rate of 20-30 percent.

"Information security is the hot course to pick and more than 50 per cent students are interested in the subject," said Suresh Pabboju, head, department of IT at CBIT, adding that companies visiting the campus for placements too favour those who are trained in the subject.

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