Union Budget 2022-23: While there was a boom in digitisation during the pandemic, with the mandated lockdown there was also a cash crunch, which opened a conduit for many fraudulent loan apps to release offers for consumers
Indian Union Budget 2022: Digital data safety needs to be foolproof
India in the past two years has experienced a significant digital shift because of the pandemic. While the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of the digital revolution, which itself is now expected to continue at a rapid pace, the upcoming Union Budget is expected to further push the digitalization of infrastructure and services consumed by an end-user to expedite the Digital India initiative. This year’s Union Budget being the first paperless budget in Indian history since Independence also strongly suggests that digitization has taken an irreversible step forward.
While there was a boom in digitisation during the pandemic, with the mandated lockdown there was also a cash crunch, which opened a conduit for many fraudulent loan apps to release offers for consumers. In addition to the government’s backing for digital initiatives, customers would expect strict restrictions to be implemented to protect their digital wallets, UPI identity, and personal information.
To foster trust in digital payments, the upcoming Budget sessions must accelerate the passing of the Data Protection Act, thereby establishing a robust compliance culture for digital payments in India.
With such a rapid transition in digital transformation, the country must prioritise cybersecurity as a major component of IT purchases in their respective budgets. The lack of a governing data protection legislation, a rudimentary cybersecurity framework is used by the majority of corporations, and poor cyber hygiene practices among Indian citizens further provide challenges for the businesses. The upcoming Budget session should address our country’s lack of data protection; this would also necessitate the development of a mechanism by organisations to safeguard the personal data of consumers being processed, as well as failure to satisfy the requirements.
The majority of cybersecurity industry professionals believe that this shift during the pandemic has only increased the risk of cyber threats and that the majority of organisations may need to focus or pay attention to their cybersecurity requirements in order to keep up with the pace of rapid digitisation.
DeitY (Department of Electronics and Information Technology) issued the first National Cybersecurity Policy in 2013, with the goal of providing stakeholders with a framework on how to protect information and information infrastructure.
What was lacking was a comprehensive strategy based on a specific action plan, as well as the necessity for a centralised organisation in charge of the nation’s cybersecurity needs. For the past two years, the government has been working on a National Cybersecurity Strategy, which is now nearing completion. We hope to see the release of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which will provide guidance for businesses and consumers on numerous cybersecurity issues.
Focus on entrepreneurship, employment
This year’s Budget may also focus on entrepreneurship and employment, as growth is anticipated. Everyone intends a more flexible compliance to new startups this year, which will attract more capital and stimulate the growth of local brands and entrepreneurs. This, in turn, will enable smoother transactions and help Indian SMEs take their products globally. Furthermore, the cyber security industry anticipates that the Union Budget and our leaders will provide financial support for the growth of the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
There is a larger need to upskill cybersecurity knowledge for the entire cybersecurity community to cope with new technology advances and adversaries. There is a need for stronger support for existing cybersecurity enterprises, as are incentives for “homegrown” cybersecurity startups in terms of market access, funding, and community support.
According to prominent bug bounty players, the Indian ethical hacker community is the second-largest after the United States. We need to promote and establish a thriving ethical hacker culture that will evolve to address our nation’s cybersecurity skill deficit. With the rise of state-sponsored and cross-border cybercrime, it is critical to build a much larger cyberforce at the federal and state levels to combat the rising tide of cybercrime.
Greater coordination and synergies between homegrown cybersecurity businesses and government entities is needed to build a strong cybersecurity ecosystem. The rise of cybersecurity startups will be extremely beneficial to our country’s future security, as it has been for countries such as Israel. In the next few years, the government’s goal of ‘Digital India’ should also adopt ‘Digital Secure India,’ with cybersecurity as a fundamental pillar of the Digital India focus.
The writer is Co-Founder and CEO at Instasafe. Views are personal.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.