"Technological superiority is going to determine the sovereignty of a country of a nation state in the coming times," said Brijesh Singh, the Inspector General of Police under the Government of Maharashtra in a session at the Cyber Warfare Symposium 2021. In his keynote address titled "Cyber Preparedness: Enemy At The Gate," he spoke about the dangers of cryptocurrencies as tools for economic warfare and citizen participation in cyberattacks among other things. Until recently, Singh served as the head of Maharashtra's cyber cell. Cyber preparedness key to sovereignty: Brijesh Singh Here are some of the key points Singh made in his keynote address and in the Q/A session: Crypto for economic warfare: In his address, Singh highlighted the threat of adversary states controlling your economy by exploiting vulnerabilities in cryptocurrencies: Imagine an adversary state. If it finds a technical solution to attack the cryptocurrencies or dominates the flow of cryptocurrencies in your region, then they would be very well able to control your economy... So in a linked economy, if you have a kind of currency which is just based on speculation and has no control of the central banks anywhere, then it is a huge threat to the sovereignty of nation States. - Brijesh Singh As an example, Singh pointed out that Pakistan used to print currency notes and send them to India to cause inflation as a means of economic warfare. "Imagine how easy that becomes if you have a cryptocurrency," Singh added. Technological superiority for sovereignty: Singh…
