Over 70 pct of terrorists make use of cyber space and tools: cyber security advisor Rai

India's cyber security advisor Dr. Gulshan Rai has said that more than 70 percent of terrorists and terrorist groups across the globe are making use of various tools of the cyber medium.

He made the remarks during a keynote address at the CyFy 2016, the India Conference on Cyber Security and Internet Governance organised by Observer Research Foundation.

Rai asserted that the terrorists are using tools like voice over internet telecom, social media and even encryption to spread the menace of terrorism and further their goals.

Noting that after the Edward Snowden controversy, users and nations have become worried about the security of their data which led to the use various encryption techniques and policies and hence there has been interruptions in seamless flow of data and information.

Stressing on the need for finding a fine balance between the security of data as well as seamless flow of data, Rai said that countries are creating their own encryption policies while these policies are struck before the parliaments.

Highlighting that India is coming out with the national encryption policy with the focus on multi-stake holder model he said that PPP (public private partnership) is the best model, adding the model, the government, industry, academia and the civil society will work together to ensure a perfect balance between security and smooth flow of data.

He, however, said that finding a solution to the problem is not an easy task.

Cyber czar Rai insisted that the main problem is in the flow of data from consumer to consumer while the access to data in government-to-government and government-to-industry and vice versa are quite smooth.

Stating that the rapidly advancing technology has the potential to further globalisation, Rai said that the real challenge before us is to find a balance and solution between security and privacy.

Rai urged the the civil society to come forward and help in finding an amicable solution which is acceptable to all.

The three-day international conference, which was inaugurated by Union Minister for Information Technology and Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on September 28, is being attended by stake-holders and policy-makers from across the globe, including countries from Africa.

The conference has sessions on 'New dimensions: Technology, society and pluralism', 'Norms, Code or Law? A new order for the internet', Internet economy', 'Countering violent extremism in cyberspace', 'Future of internet', 'Mutual legal assistance treaties', 'Supply chain integrity in Asia', 'Non-state actors in cyberspace', 'Stability in cyberspace', 'Building capacity to tackle cyber crime', 'Sentient technologies, cyber weapons and autonomous platforms', 'Long-term cyber security trends', etc.

Besides Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, other important speakers who are participating in the conference included Mr Arvind Gupta, Deputy National Security Advisor, Lt. Gen. A.R.Prasad, Signals Officer-in-chief, Indian Army, Roberts Silvers, Assistant Secretary for Cyber Policy, US Department of Homeland Security, Uri Rosenthal, Special Envoy for Cyberspace, The Netherlands and many others.