Civil services, armed forces must unite against cyberattacks: President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said cyberattacks have emerged as a major threat to national security and the civil services and armed forces must join hands to create a secure nationwide system capable of thwarting them.

She said the country's security concerns extend beyond preservation of territorial integrity and encompass other areas of national wellbeing such as economic, environmental, energy security, and cyber security related issues.

"Addressing these concerns requires intensive research, and calls for a holistic approach in dealing with these wide-ranging issues," the President said while addressing the faculty and course members of the 64th National Defence College course, who had called on her at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Murmu said cyberattacks have emerged as a major threat to national security.

Dealing with and countering cyberattacks requires high-end technological intervention as well as robust digital infrastructure, along with well-trained and specialised human resources, she said.

"It is an issue that affects the entire governance framework of the country across all sectors. This is one of the areas where our civil services and armed forces must join hands to create a secure nationwide system capable of thwarting such attacks," the President said.

She said huge amounts of data and sensitive information are available in the governance systems "which cannot be left unsecured" and urged them to understand the gravity of this issue besides taking concrete measures to address it.

Murmu said the role of the armed forces has expanded far beyond traditional military matters and that the future conflicts will require a multi-State, multi-agency approach. 

"One of the major bottlenecks in achieving the goals is that various organisations and departments work in silos. On one hand, achieving the larger goals become difficult while on the other hand, similar jobs are performed by different departments thus creating a resource crunch," the President said.

She said it has also been observed that officers working in the same department also keep performing overlapping tasks due to systemic gaps or lack of clear delineation of jobs.

"This course, therefore, makes an important contribution in preparing the officers for enhancing cooperation to perform efficiently," Murmu told the faculty and course members.

The NDC course is aimed at providing a holistic view of contemporary economic, political and related aspects with particular emphasis on security issues to participants drawn from different disciplines -- including those from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers among others.

Visits to important military stations and frontier posts and some foreign countries form an integral part of the course curriculum.

She said the dynamic global geo-political environment poses numerous challenges.

"The fast pace at which events have unfolded in the recent past, could not have been foreseen perhaps a decade earlier. Thus, all officers, whether from civil services or defence services, must be aware of the challenges and vulnerabilities they face, and the strengths that can help deal with such challenges," the President said.

Addressing the faculty and course members, Murmu said technology is advancing rapidly and it is imperative to keep pace with it.

"Whether it is artificial intelligence, data science, machine language processing or blockchain, you have to be aware of these technologies and should utilise them in your departments for creating a more efficient, transparent and productive work culture," she said.

Murmu said innovation is another factor that will keep the officers future-ready.

"Each nation is guided in its actions by its national interests and objectives. Sometimes, you have to face unforeseen situations and crisis. For you to be always prepared for dealing with such situations, it is necessary to be innovative, resourceful and open to collaborations," the President said.