K'taka govt launches cybersecurity policy, outflow of Rs 103 cr for 5 years

To curb the rising menace of cyber crimes, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) on Thursday allocated Rs 103 crore over five years to build a strong cybersecurity ecosystem across the state.

The Cybersecurity Policy 2024 report will also focus on a skilling programme by CISCO. GoK also announced a significant initiative to bolster cybersecurity skills and digital safety across the state. The government has signed a MoU with Cisco to train 40,000 individuals in cybersecurity skills and awareness. The programme is designed with a strong focus on gender inclusivity, aiming to have 50 per cent of the participants be women.

"The Government of Karnataka, recognizing the rising importance of cybersecurity, has meticulously crafted this policy to establish a resilient and secure cyberspace for our citizens and enterprises. It will also foster innovation and growth within the cybersecurity sector, ensuring that Karnataka remains at the forefront of technological advancement and becomes the leading cybersecurity hub of the country,” said Priyank Kharge, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and ITBT, at the launch event.

The report stated that Rs 23.74 crore of the total budget would go towards providing incentives and concessions. Additionally, it would focus on several key areas such as awareness and education, skill building, promotion of industry and startups, and partnerships and collaborations for capacity building.

The policy would offer a stipend of Rs 10,000-15,000 monthly for a maximum of three months to Karnataka-based undergraduate and postgraduate interns. The target is to facilitate 600 undergraduate interns and 120 postgraduate interns during the policy period.

Moreover, in the R&D (research and development) projects in the domain of cybersecurity, driven by Karnataka’s start-ups and in collaboration with academic institutes, matching grants of up to a maximum of 50 per cent of the total project R&D cost, or up to Rs 50 lakh, will be provided. Reimbursement of the cost up to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh towards the engagement of state-based CERT-In empanelled service providers by start-ups registered with the Start-up Cell for cyber security audit.

The Department of El.IT (Enterprise Integration, Information Technology), Bt and S&T in collaboration with IISc will be implementing key initiatives outlined in the “Karnataka Cyber Security Policy, 2024” through the COE Cyber Security (CYSECK). Furthermore, the policy aims to build a dynamic, secure, and resilient cyberspace for all G2G, G2B, and G2C services of the Government of Karnataka.

"Beyond establishing a secure cyber ecosystem, the policy aims to create an assurance framework, strengthen the regulatory framework, quickly respond to security threats, protect critical information, reduce supply chain risks, and develop human resources," Kharge added.

Ekroop Caur, Secretary to Government, Department of Electronics, IT, BT and Science and Technology, said cyberspace is expected to become more complex in the foreseeable future, with a many-fold increase in networks and devices connected to it. “Therefore, there is now a pressing need for these actions to be unified under a Cyber Security Policy that will be in line with National Cyber Security Policy, with an integrated vision and a set of sustained and coordinated strategies for implementation.”