NEW DELHI, 10 March, 2020, (TON): India is mulling a new national strategy to strengthen the country’s cyber security amid allegations on Chinese intrusions that may have possibly affected operations at a key stock exchange and supply of electricity in the country’s commercial capital.

Former Lieutenant General Rajesh Pant, India’s National Cyber Security Coordinator said in an interview that “the plan will coordinate responses across ministries including Home Affairs, Information Technology, Defense and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre in case of an attack and set audit procedures.”

“It will be approved by the cabinet committee on security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi” he said.

Authorities are investigating a series of recent suspected cyber intrusions which could have led to a power outage in Mumbai, crippled systems at banks and caused a glitch at the country’s premier National Stock Exchange, he said.

The new strategy will lay down protocols for prevention and audit to secure the government’s digitally connected water, health and education systems that are all being treated as critical infrastructure, he said. Infrastructure like nuclear, power and aviation will be considered supercritical.

Chinese linked cyber hackers targeted state and centre power distribution organisations in mid-2020 during the peak of India China standoff in Ladakh, a US security research firm said.

According to cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma, a Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country's immunization campaign. 

Rivals China and India have both sold or gifted COVID-19 shots to many countries. India produces more than 60% of all vaccines sold in the world.

Goldman Sachs-backed Cyfirma, based in Singapore and Tokyo, said Chinese hacking group APT10, also known as Stone Panda, had identified gaps and vulnerabilities in the IT infrastructure and supply chain software of Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine maker.