Constituents of the domain specific cyber security mandate for the Indian power sector

Abstract

Information technology and its growth in the 20th and 21st century have had a remarkable and positive impact on society. A number of things that were in the realms of science fiction not so long ago are a reality today. The growth and the impact of the connected world, with the emergence of the Internet have outpaced anything else in the history of the human race. As we move from an era of an internet of connected people to an era of an internet of connected devices and machines, we are on the cusp of a revolution that promises to usher in a whole new reality where the real and virtual worlds merge seamlessly. This era of smart cities, smart infrastructure, smart devices and smart wearables would increase our dependency on the connected infrastructure. The connected world is not restricted just to the commercial sphere, the infrastructure which runs the nation, the nation’s crown jewels and its critical infrastructure – banking, energy, telecom, transport and health among others have a huge dependency on this IT infrastructure. This IT infrastructure brings a number of advantages and benefits, but along with the upside, its own challenges.