Answer the following in about 150 words each : (a) Low cyber awareness among officials is causing cyber security issues in the administration. Comment.

Impact of Low Cyber Awareness on Administration

Low cyber awareness among officials manifests in various ways, creating fertile ground for cyber adversaries to exploit. These range from simple human errors to a lack of understanding of sophisticated attack vectors.

• Phishing and Social Engineering: Officials with low awareness are more susceptible to phishing emails, vishing calls, and other social engineering tactics. Clicking on malicious links or opening infected attachments can compromise credentials and lead to unauthorized access to sensitive government networks and data.
• Weak Password Practices: The use of weak, easily guessable, or recycled passwords across multiple systems by officials significantly increases the risk of account compromise. A lack of understanding of strong password policies and multi-factor authentication protocols leaves systems vulnerable.
• Unsecured Device Usage: Connecting personal, unsecured devices to official networks or using public Wi-Fi for sensitive work can introduce malware and create backdoors for attackers. A lack of adherence to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies further exacerbates this risk.
• Data Handling Missteps: Improper handling of sensitive data, such as sharing confidential information via unencrypted channels or storing it on personal cloud services, can lead to inadvertent data leaks and regulatory non-compliance.
• Delayed Incident Reporting: Officials unaware of the signs of a cyberattack may delay reporting suspicious activities, allowing threats to proliferate and cause greater damage before detection and response mechanisms are activated.
• Vulnerability to Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs): State-sponsored or sophisticated hacking groups often target government entities. Low awareness makes officials easier targets for APTs that employ stealthy and persistent methods to gain long-term access to critical infrastructure.

Consequences for Public Administration

The ramifications of low cyber awareness are profound:

• Data Breaches and Loss of Confidentiality: Compromise of sensitive citizen data, national security information, or intellectual property.
• Disruption of Public Services: Cyberattacks can paralyze critical government operations, affecting services like healthcare, finance, and emergency response.
• Financial Losses: Costs associated with incident response, recovery, legal liabilities, and reputational damage. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) reported losses amounting to ₹11,333 crore in the first nine months of 2024 alone due to cyber fraud.
• Erosion of Public Trust: Repeated cyber incidents can severely damage public confidence in the government's ability to protect their data and deliver services securely.
• National Security Implications: Espionage and sabotage attempts targeting critical infrastructure can have severe consequences for national security. For example, Pakistan-linked APT36 has escalated campaigns against Indian government institutions [7].

Government Initiatives for Cyber Awareness

Recognizing the challenge, the Indian government has launched several initiatives to enhance cyber awareness among officials and the public:

• Cyber Surakshit Bharat: Launched by MeitY, this initiative focuses on providing training programs, workshops, and seminars for government officials to enhance their cybersecurity awareness and skills [3, 5].
• Cyber Jagrukta Divas: Held on the first Wednesday of every month, this initiative by the Indian government aims to raise cybersecurity awareness among the public and organizations, including government departments [5].
• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): CERT-In plays a vital role in controlling cybersecurity incidents, coordinating incident response, issuing advisories, and conducting security audits for government websites [3, 9, 17].
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra: This initiative provides free tools and services to detect and remove malicious botnet programs and malware from devices [3, 5, 9].