Q&A: Roger Halbheer, Global Security Advisor, Microsoft

'We can help India become more mature in cyber space'

Microsoft's global security advisor, Roger Halbheer, here to attend a security event, feels investment in cyber security enables economic growth. In an interview with Piyali Mandal, he talks on web censorship, government regulations and the like. Edited excerpts:

You are visiting India at a time of debate on web censorship and pre-screening of data.
The debate is about what you want and what you don't want to happen from a societal point of view. The question is what policy the society has. I think that is the debate which should happen now. But, sadly, I can't go any further on this issue.

As a technology expert, is the government demand to pre-screen content on social media sites feasible?
It is not a technology issue. For me, it's a societal debate.

How difficult is it for MNCs like you to abide by the rules and regulations of different geographies where you operate?
We want uniformity of law. There is no uniformity now. Take the retention piece. Certain countries tell me I will have to keep data for nine months for law enforcement reasons. Some others tell me I am not allowed to keep locked data for longer than six months for privacy reasons. I want a consistent set of rules that level the playing field we are in. We have a law blueprint that can be applied, the Budapest Convention of the Council of Europe.

But isn't it the responsibility of the private sector?
Yes. But we want participation from other players as well. At Microsoft, we played a leading role in many bodies -- we helped the Council of Europe, we worked with UN bodies, Interpol. We donate technology which helps law enforcement officers to go after child pornography. I want others to join in as well.

What motivated Microsoft to come up with a blueprint for governments on cyber security?
Governments across the globe are working on starting, restarting or pushing their cyber security initiative. This made us think about what is needed to run a successful cyber security agenda within a country. What are the themes which ought to be addressed and in which form? We came up with two papers about it - a cybersecurity white paper abstract and Cybersecurity: More than a good headline. In parallel, we are working on a book about this, giving much more examples and background - so stay tuned.

You had a series of meetings with government officials. What, according to you, is the biggest challenge for the Indian government in implementing cyber security rules?
I met quite some people from the defence organisation, government bodies. What the government of India wants to do in cyber security is extremely impressive. It's extremely hard in a country like India to set the right priorities. If you look at the World Economic Forum data, one of the things that struck me was the infrastructure requirement of India. I am a firm believer that if you do cyber security right, it enables economic growth of the country.

What kind of opportunities do you see in India?
India has huge opportunity. If you look at the cloud, it generates huge business opportunities. But, for that, India has to set the whole cyber security framework in place. By doing that, India will be able to win the confidence of governments and corporations from across the world. If India does not get it right, there will be a lot of crime on the Internet, which we all want to avoid.

How can your solutions help India?
We can help India to become more mature in cyber space. That's the reason we are having a dialogue with India and giving them the blueprint.