The Indian government is coming up with an initiative wherein it will identify one's handset and provide customised security and privacy-related recommendations pertaining to that specific communication device to citizens, Lt Gen (Dr) Rajesh Pant (retd), the National Cybersecurity Coordinator, said at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2021. "The objective is to build an integrated system which can collate all the mobile security related information and provide customised and actionable knowledge to Indian citizens to secure their mobile devices. This information will be provided in the language he or she understands" — Lt Gen (Dr) Rajesh Pant Pant also said that this initiative will not only inform but also answer questions in the language that citizens understand. "Questions like: what specific changes do I need to take to protect myself from cyber crimes and so on...," he added. How will it work? "There will be a system that whatever model of the handset you have got, whatever apps you have got, we will be verifying that and sending you a message that you will be aware of the vulnerabilities," Pant said. It is important to point out that the Indian government is yet to come out with the National Cybersecurity Policy. Moreover, the Indian government's plan to verify and accrue device information from citizens in the absence of robust data security legislation seems concerning. IAMAI, one of the key players behind the project In order to create this platform, the NSCS has approached the ministries of IT, Home Affairs, and Finance,…
