The protection of critical national infrastructure — power generation and distribution, water treatment, financial systems, transportation networks, and telecommunications — from cyber attack has emerged as one of the most urgent national security challenges facing India. The 2020 cyber attack on Mumbai's power grid, widely attributed to state-sponsored actors, demonstrated that adversaries are actively developing the capability to cause civilian harm and economic disruption through cyber means as part of a broader coercive strategy. The Bharat Defence Tech Show has placed critical infrastructure cybersecurity at the centre of its national security agenda.
India's National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), operating under the National Technical Research Organisation, is responsible for protecting designated critical information infrastructures. BDTS has facilitated engagement between NCIIPC officials and cybersecurity technology companies offering operational technology (OT) security solutions, threat intelligence services, and incident response capabilities specifically designed for industrial control systems.
The convergence of information technology and operational technology in India's critical infrastructure has created an expanded attack surface that traditional IT security approaches do not adequately address. Industrial control systems running power plants, water treatment facilities, and railways were designed for reliability and longevity rather than security, and upgrading them without disrupting essential services requires specialist expertise that BDTS has helped connect with procuring agencies.
India's Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT-In, sectoral CERTs) play a frontline role in detecting, responding to, and sharing intelligence about cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. BDTS discussions have examined the automation of threat intelligence sharing between CERT-In, sectoral CERTs, and the Defence Cyber Agency, creating a more coherent national picture of the cyber threat landscape that enables faster, better-coordinated responses.
🌐 Website: www.bharatdefencetechshow.com