back to article India to greenlight state-sponsored cyber attacks

The Indian government is stepping up its cyber security capabilities with plans to protect critical national infrastructure from a Stuxnet-like attack and to authorise two agencies to carry out state-sponsored attacks if necessary. Sources told the Times of India that the government’s National Security Council, headed by prime …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fortunately...

    Here in Aus' our banks and big companies will be well protected by our skilled programmers.

    Oh, wait, we outsourced all that to India, China etc', guess it's good that we totally trust them never to turn on us then.

    My sympathy gauge [E\ . . . .F]

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Of course

      Over half our call centre services originate from India, not to mention all the outsourcing that has been done over the years and still to this day continues.

      I will sleep safely in my bed tonight knowing India protects my assets. Hmmmm.

  2. pcsupport

    If the Indian government are going to be employing hackers / numpties etc to do this does it mean that my customers will finally stop getting cold calls from "Windows" telling them that their computers are sending out viruses and offering to install MSE and then defrag their hard drive in exchange for hundreds of £'s?

  3. jake Silver badge

    Fair enough.

    I've just red-lighted all of India. Stop, do not pass go, you are no longer welcome on any of the networks under my control.

    Ain't DENY tables wonderful?

    1. adnim

      Re: Fair enough.

      You best deny access to every country with an intelligence service. I would imagine every state/nation with a comms infrastructure has been developing offensive as well as defensive infosec capabilities since wires have been carrying bits. Capabilities that not only target foreign nations but any entity within their own jurisdiction that raises any kind of suspicion of opposing the status quo.

      Is there any evidence anywhere that any power, foreign or domestic, abide by the laws that they create to keep the populace in their place? One is more likely to find a Routemaster bus on Mars than a truly honest, fair and just government body, regardless of nation.

      India are just being a little more open about it.

    2. Don Jefe
      Meh

      Re: Fair enough.

      You don't really think that will stop a state sponsored attack do you? If they really want to attack your systems they'll just have a guy down the street do it.

  4. nrp

    well we Indians need not over react to stuxnet or any other planned cyber attacks on India, bcoz we dont have any secrets left to spy on, our nation is run by terrorists and rapists, we have outsourced our Governments' high level work to Italy, and guess what you could buy all our historical artifacts in the streets of Italy. So yeah all the countries who have outsourced your work with us in India, Sleep tight :)

    (However I would like to add that avg Indian youth is exceptionally smart and intelligent, though due to these idiotic fools who manage the country they are not well utilized and most of them settle for jobs they are not interested or where they cant give their best.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      settle for jobs

      "most of them settle for jobs they are not interested or where they cant give their best." (Sic)

      Yeah, that's called Life

    2. h4rm0ny

      Why does the Indian government outsource its high-level work to Italy? Security? Corruption? Cost? I would like to understand what you mean by this...

      1. BajanCherry

        Oh, the comment is in reference to Sonia Gandhi, an Italian wife to the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and as part of the ruling dynasty, holds the reign to the Congress party led Government.

  5. Uplink
    Pint

    I'd rather have this

    I'd rather cyber warfare than bullet warfare any day. You can always get better shields in cyber warfare, and some point you won't need to get better shields because everything will be as fortified as it gets and everyone will just have to play nice (it's asymptotic: it will never be this way, but we'll get closer and closer). Not the case with bullet warfare.

    And in case you wonder, yeah, I am a mouse.

    1. DaeDaLuS_015

      Re: I'd rather have this

      But isn't it the case that this cyber warfare is a precursor to real warfare?

      If your aim is to cause industrial damage and steal state secrets then eventually you are going to annoy someone enough they are going to just send in the troops (or a nuke).

      The same can be said for gaining a technological or intelligence based advantage over another nation through hacking, That advantage is only an advantage as long as your information is relevent. A strategic decision to go to war in the first place could be obtained via hacking and therefore it is a definite trigger for real action.

      Even seemingly trivial data about a certain event could be the precursor to a terrorist attack.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sources told the Times of India

    ...is the bit that worries me.

    I wouldn't too excited about this.

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