India, US and China join hands for better cyberspace security

In a first, the United States, India and China have agreed to work together to make cyberspace a safer and secured place to live and work.

A joint trilateral meeting between representatives from three countries was held on Thursday at the Vivekananda International Foundation, a New-Delhi based think tank.

Establishing the relationship between cyber security and socio economics, Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, Vivekanand International Foundation, said, "Cyber is no more limited to security only, it is now linked with socio economics as well, which includes politics, industry, health, education and critical infrastructure. This is why cyber security and safety has become an imperative issue. If attention will not be given to cyber security then its socio economic consequences can be serious."

Denying the existence of cyber wars, Bruce W McConnell, Global Vice President, EastWest Institute, said, "I don't think it's a cyber war right now. There are cyber skirmishes. Among the nations, they are testing and are investigating each others defences. But I don't think we have reached the level of warfare."

"There are 40 countries who are building cyber weapons capabilities. However, dangerous is the fact that there is a likelihood of misunderstandings or miscalculations occurring within the countries and they might react without complete information. So, this trilateral meet will aim at creating relationships and communication channels to help avoid those miscalculations," he added.

During the meeting, delegates identified specific mechanisms for improving cooperation on a trilateral basis to investigate and respond to cyber incidents.

The delegation also explored ways to contribute to overall trust building between the parties including the potential role for industry in this regard.

Underscoring the significance of the bilateral meeting, Yan Hanbing, Director, Operation Department, National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center of (CNCERT) China said, "I believe this is a very important conference perhaps in history. China, India and the US have huge internet presence and also India and China have the biggest markets and largest populations. The US is the most powerful state on the internet. Thereby, these three countries coming together to discuss cyber security is grand."

Hanbing also acknowledged cyber attacks taking place between India and China and expressed hope that this will be resolved.

Cyberspace refers to the virtual computer world, and more specifically, is an electronic medium used to form a global computer network to facilitate online communication.

Cyberspace's core feature is an interactive and virtual environment for a broad range of participants.