Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

INDIA

MANUEL SUTER AND ELGIN BRUNNER

Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich, Switzerland

1 CRITICAL SECTORS

In India, the following sectors are considered critical:

• Banking and Finance,
• Insurance,
• Civil Aviation,
• Telecommunications,
• Atomic Energy,
• Power,
• Ports,
• Railways,
• Space,
• Petroleum and Natural Gas,
• Defense,
• Law Enforcement Agencies.

These 12 critical sectors were identified by the National Task Force on Y2K a few years ago, taking into account the extent of penetration of information technology in these sectors and the impact that a disruption of any of these sectors would have [1].

2 PAST AND PRESENT INITIATIVES AND POLICIES

In India, many efforts in the field of CIIP were triggered by the government's goal of making the country a leading knowledge-driven global economy by boosting IT and e-business. In 1998, the prime minister of India announced a drive to make India an IT superpower and one of the largest producers and exporters of software in the world within the next ten years. The government of India has recognized the potential of IT for rapid national development [2]. Therefore, it has established a National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development [3] and a Department of Information Technology (DIT) within the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, also dealing with CIIP [4].

2.1 National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development and Information Technology Action Plan

The Indian government has given ...