In the immediate days following the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian defence cybersecurity suffered a severe blow. Pakistani hackers, self-styled as the “Pakistan Cyber Force,” infiltrated critical portals—breaching the Military Engineer Services (MES) and the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), and even defacing the Armoured Vehicle Corporation Limited’s public site with their flag. Sensitive login credentials and confidential data may have been compromised just when the nation was most vulnerable
A Blueprint Ignored
India has long maintained specialized agencies for cyber defence. CERT-In was established in 2004 to respond to national breaches, and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) followed in 2011 to safeguard defence and other vital sectors. The Defence Cyber Agency, operational since late 2019, was specifically tasked with orchestrating military cyberwarfare and defence protection. Yet, despite these structures, adversaries slipped through basic defenses—revealing that institutional frameworks alone mean little without rigorous, continuous enforcement.
An Unforgivable Lapse
Global powers treat cybersecurity as a front-line defence. Major militaries deploy zero-trust architectures, next-generation firewalls, and dedicated 24/7 Security Operations Centres. They conduct regular red-team exercises to probe vulnerabilities. That India’s defence networks could be breached—and remain exposed for hours—points to systemic failures in patch management, real-time monitoring, and inter-agency coordination. Critically, there remains no single cyber command with the authority to enforce uniform security standards across all defence entities, leaving gaps that hostile actors exploited.
Ignored Lessons from Pahalgam
The Pahalgam attack underlined the modern terror playbook: kinetic strikes paired with information warfare. Yet, while our soldiers secured mountain passes, our digital ramparts were left understaffed and under-monitored. India’s reactive posture doctrine—bolstering defences only after an intrusion—proved dangerously inadequate. By contrast, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was elevated in 2018 to mandate continuous diagnostics, threat hunting, and the “Shields Up” campaign to preempt attacks
A Blueprint for Urgent Reform
- Empowered Cyber Command: Constitute a unified National Cyber Defence Council with ministry-level authority, reporting directly to the Prime Minister’s Office.
- Secure-by-Design Mandate: Require all defence websites and databases to clear independent penetration tests before going live.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Fund and staff round-the-clock Security Operations Centres (SOCs) with certified cyber-analysts.
- Transparent Audits: Publish compliance reports for every defence-related IT asset, ensuring public accountability.
- Cultural Shift: Institute mandatory cyber-hygiene training and regular red-team drills for all defence personnel, integrating private-sector bug-bounty experts to continuously harden systems.
Beyond Firewalls: Building Vigilance
Technology alone won’t win this battle. We must cultivate a cyber-aware culture—where every officer, civilian employee, and contractor understands that a single overlooked patch can jeopardize national security. Partnerships with leading tech universities and private cybersecurity firms can harness India’s talent pool, turning vulnerability into an engine for innovation.
India cannot afford another “too-late” moment. The Pahalgam aftermath should have ignited a holistic security overhaul, not sparked reactive band-aids. In cyberspace, as on the battlefield, the best defence is a forward posture: anticipate, fortify, and never rest until our digital ramparts are truly impenetrable. Only then can India stand secure—its cyberspace as inviolable as its mountain passes.
