It’s an well-established fact by now which can be corroborated by very recent developments that China is determined to harm India at any cost and has taken the path of exploring newer avenues in its attainment. But very few among the common people in the country could have fancied that the hostile neighbour has the capability of the scale that can dismantle any technical set-up providing essential services to millions, not through launching missiles but remotely with a click of the mouse. A report published in The New York Times on Sunday gives a strong hint that last year’s October 13 blackout in Mumbai that compelled the business capital of the country to remain without power for a few hours might have been China’s handiwork. It will be hard to disregard the report since it’s being carried in NYT, a brand synonymous with responsible and ethical journalism. Time has arrived for India to take counteractive measures, largely preemptive from now onwards and confrontations, surely, will not be restricted across borders. The new war field is the cyber arena and while it will not involve any bloodshed, the impact, still, is no less than that caused by any military standoff.
The NYT article which is based on the findings of Recorded Future, a US-based company that monitors the use of the internet by nations for cyber-campaigns (in the current case it’s clearly a cyber attack) and contained quotes from its officials mentions that has since mid-2020 when the Eastern Ladakh skirmishes were on a high, at least 12 Indian state-run organisations, mostly power utilities and load dispatch centres have been targeted by the Chinese state-sponsored groups with the primary attempt of injecting malware in Indian IT systems that could cause widespread and prolonged disruptions. It’s very alarming indeed since according to the definition of Indian National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), all these 12 organisations belong to the category of ‘critical infrastructure’. The timing of the Mumbai blackout needs to be noted-very well amidst the Eastern Ladakh flare-up and now it’s clear that it was a warning by China. These malware-infusing groups which have fixed India as the prime target receive due patronage by the Ministry of State Security (MSS), which is China’s main intelligence and security agency and the PLA and in effect are their frontal wings. Evidently, as the matter is related to national security, not much details were available in the Indian press until the NTY report was published that has now triggered renewed public attention.
It has started with lights going off, may be there might be repetitions in other equally susceptible fronts like banking, IT and many others of crucial public importance. It remains to be seen how India, now a near-IT-superpower draws out the counter-strategies.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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