Karnataka govt launches new cyber security policy

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The Karnataka Government on Thursday launched a comprehensive cyber security policy 2024 to combat rising levels of cybercrimes and promote awareness, skill building, public-private partnerships and technology integration to protect the State's digital infrastructure.

The policy focuses on several key areas such as awareness and education, skill building, promotion of industry and startups, partnerships and collaborations for capacity building, officials said.

The total financial outflow for implementation of the policy for five years is about Rs 103.87 crore, which would be met from the budgetary allocation of the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology and Science & Technology.

Out of this, Rs 23.74 crore would go towards providing incentives and concessions, they said. According to an official statement, key highlights of the incentives under the policy are: Under the internship programme, a stipend of Rs 10,000- Rs15,000 per month will be provided, for a maximum of three months, to Karnatakabased undergraduate and postgraduate interns.

The target is to facilitate 600 undergraduate interns and 120 post-graduate interns during the policy period. For R&D projects in the domain of cybersecurity, driven by Karnatakabased start-ups and in collaboration with Karnataka-based 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 given.

The cost up to a maximum of Rs one lakh towards engagement of Karnataka-based, CERT-In empanelled service providers by start-ups registered with Karnataka Start-up Cell for cyber security audit will be reimbursed.

"The Government of Karnataka, recognising the rising importance of cyber security, has meticulously crafted this policy to establish a resilient and secure cyberspace for our citizens and enterprises," Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and Information Technology and Biotechnology, Priyank Kharge, said at the lunch event.

He emphasised that the policy, aligned with national and international efforts, highlights Karnataka's proactive stance in addressing cyber threats. According to him, the policy has two parts.

The first part focuses on building a strong cyber security ecosystem across all segments of the society, including public, academia, industry, start-ups and the government. The second part of the policy focuses on strengthening the cyber security posture of the State's IT assets.

Whilst the first part will be in public domain, the second will be internal to the state's IT teams and departments for their IT implementations.

This policy has been drafted by the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, the department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance), and the Home Department, in consultation with stakeholders. The policy was also reviewed by the Indian Institute of Science, which is the anchor institute for the state's K-tech Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security (CySecK).