Gulshan Rai to be first National Cyber Security Coordinator

The appointment of Gulshan Rai, as cyber security coordinator has been approved by the union government. Rai is currently the head of CERT.IN and though he had been tipped for the job some time back, however, the government in carving out the role for the new job ran into opposition from several ministries, including home, law and telecom, which were reluctatnt to give up their authority.

CERT-In (the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is a government-mandated information technology (IT) security organisation tasked with the responsibility of responding to computer security incidents.  It also reports on vulnerabilities and promotes effective IT security practices throughout the country.

Rai's appointment was recently approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security and he will now join the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) shortly.

Rai's appointment is one of the many steps taken by the government in recent months to strengthen the cyber security network. Under the new plan, the new framework would be the nodal centre to deal with all cyber threats and security issues.

Earlier the government had taken a decision to set up the cyber cell with the NSCS that had several officials, including a joint secretary, working full time on cyber security.