Indian Airlines yet to integrate cyber security with biz plans: SITA

Geneva-based SITA said there has been some progress made in terms of developing cyber security plans in the past three years

Indian airlines are yet to integrate cyber security into their business plan even as the majority of the carriers see the issue as a board level priority, according to an industry report.

However, cyber security is an area earmarked for major IT investment by every Indian airline, the 2016 India IT Trends Benchmark report released by SITA here said on Friday.

Geneva-based SITA, a leading player in air transport solutions and information technology, also said there has been some progress made in terms of developing cyber security plans in the past three years.

"While the majority of airlines in India see cyber security as a board level priority, they have not made the same level of progress as global airlines where 28 per cent have already fully integrated it into their company's business plan. No airlines in India have achieved this yet," the report said.

According to the report, today a quarter of airlines in India said they were fully prepared to deal with any cyber threat, whereas there were none three years ago.

The remaining three-quarters of airlines in India admit to only being in the early stage of developing plans.

According to the report, security around mobile devices is another area of increasing importance that airlines in India are lagging behind as only 25 per cent have implemented a specific cyber security initiative for the same compared to 40 per cent of airlines globally.

Observing that the Indian airports have made good progress on cyber security in the last three years, the report said at that time, most airports (60 per cent) were just building out their critical defences.

However, today nearly the same number say they are now prepared to deal with common threats and 14 per cent say they are ready to deal with any threat.