'Steps being taken to promote indigenization in cybersecurity'

The Union government was taking various measures to promote indigenization in cyber security, the defence sector and related areas, a senior official said here Saturday.

"The main point I want to say is, one of the best ways of dealing with cyber security is to have your own products.

As long as we continue to have dependence on outside and given the level at which the testing technologies are far behind the abilities of people to insert malware, hardware intruders, the safest and the best way is to have your own products," Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production, said.

He was speaking at the 'Technical Meet Aerospace Luminary Lecture Series', organised by the Aeronautical Society of India, Hyderabad branch Saturday night.

The government, he said, is formulating a policy to try to create a road map for indigenization of products in the defence and aerospace sectors.

This would create a clear framework under which indigenization can be taken up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), service organisations and others in a clear and transparent manner, he said.

The government was also trying to provide 'match making' between companies who are interested and the products that need to be indigenized, through an online portal, he said.

The government has already mandated about 90 products, wherein any domestic manufacturer of any component would be given preference in procurement by any DPSU (defence PSU), the senior official said.

Gulshan Rai, National Cyber Security Coordinator, PMO, delivered the keynote address.