Cyber space needs to develop its own AI, radars

It’s the 30th anniversary of the Computer Security Day that the world started observing in 1988. Many of us who had joined the workforce in the early eighties were by then just getting to know what a computer looked like and what it did for businesses. Internet was yet to be born in its true form. On the mobile communication front, by-now forgotten pagers were all that the world knew of. Thirty years later, Smart Phones are endemic, 4G is on the verge of being passé and IOT is a reality.

Quantum Computing, Big Data, AI and the rapid evolution of the Net are leading us (read, the globe) into a deeply networked village – yes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. Our new cyber space stays afflicted with old world issues of conmen, theft and thuggery. Just the tools have changed; new ones are usually invisible to the human eye.

In this context, it’s important that we observe the Computer Security Day as an occasion to reinforce and strengthen our security habits. As individuals, whether at home or at work, we need to maintain integrity and secrecy of our passwords. Frequent changes to passwords is a basic safeguard requirement. Remember Aligarh? We all looked to it for the multi-lever hand crafted locks it made. Passwords are the cyber age equivalent of these locks.

Any chain is as strong as its weakest link. The same dictum applies to the Internet. Thugs and their ware – should we say, thuggery-ware, usually referred to as worms, viruses, Botnets, Trojans, ransomware, spyware, etc. can and do use every chink in the network to stage thefts, heists or simply prove their prowess in unsettling our life-as-usual. Given the millions of mobiles, tablets, laptops, desktops and myriad other endpoints in use, it’s a Herculean task to secure the cyber networks. Cyber hygiene, anti- virus applications and 24/7 watch over network traffic via sophisticated AI-driven algorithms have helped. Detection and neutralising of cyberattacks as they happen may add to the armour, but cyber incidents, often cross border, continue to be a fast-growing threat category (FGTC). To counter this reality, a range of new businesses and institutions have emerged. Data and Network Security are a big industry. Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) are operational in various countries to track and coordinate security efforts in the cyber space. Banking regulators globally are monitoring the financial system for steps taken to prevent security breaches and intrusions. With the pervasive reliance on computer systems and networks, other industries too – be it power distribution or transport services or, even health, are exposed to hacking possibilities.

The cyber landscape is on the cusp of a major change.  The writer is deputy MD and chief risk officer, SBI.