States » SouthPosted at: Oct 17 2026 10:22AM


Cybersecurity governance reform needed; expert calls for review of CERT-In’s control

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 17 (UNI) India should undertake a time-bound review of bringing the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to strengthen coordination between cybersecurity response, national security and criminal investigations, industrial cybersecurity specialist K. S. Manoj has said.
Manoj argued that the growing threat of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cyberattacks and intrusions that remain undetected for months calls for a cybersecurity framework focused not only on issuing alerts but also on identifying the earliest point of compromise, tracing data theft and ensuring accountability.
The proposal comes amid concerns over reported cyber incidents involving sensitive government and infrastructure-related information. Manoj stressed that the available evidence must be examined carefully before separate incidents are linked to AI-enabled attacks or treated as proof of fresh data breaches.
CERT-In, which functions under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is responsible for cybersecurity incident response under Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Manoj said a review of its administrative oversight could help strengthen coordination in incidents involving defence research, critical infrastructure, espionage and strategically sensitive information, while retaining its technical autonomy and statutory mandate.
Referring to the controversy over reports that around 31 GB of DRDO-related information had been offered for sale on the dark web, Manoj said the listing alone could not establish a new cyberattack. The Defence Research and Development Organisation had indicated that the authenticity of the material was being examined and that the available information was insufficient to establish a new, active intrusion. The material reportedly included older, unclassified information and allegedly fabricated documents.
He said the origin and authenticity of the material, along with any possible links to historical compromises, required appropriate forensic examination rather than conclusions based solely on online listings.
Manoj also referred to reports of the exposure of information associated with the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project through a third-party server. Although the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited maintained that the plant's core nuclear safety and security systems were not compromised, the exposure of engineering documents, project records, supplier information or personnel data could still have security implications, he said.
He cautioned against treating either case as evidence of an AI-agent-enabled attack without supporting technical findings.
Highlighting the threat posed by prepositioned cyberattacks, Manoj said sophisticated attackers could gain access to networks, misuse credentials, establish persistence and extract sensitive information long before an organisation detects the intrusion. AI agents could potentially accelerate reconnaissance and exploitation, but their involvement would have to be established through forensic evidence.
He called for investigations to reconstruct the complete intrusion lifecycle, including initial access, privilege escalation, movement across networks, data collection and exfiltration. Network records, identity logs, endpoint telemetry and cloud audit trails should be correlated to establish the earliest supportable point of compromise, he said.
As part of the proposed governance review, CERT-In should be linked through clearly defined escalation mechanisms with the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), sectoral cybersecurity response teams, CyMAC and relevant investigative and national security agencies.
Serious incidents should trigger appropriate preservation of digital evidence, independent technical reviews and documented corrective action, Manoj said.
He also called for stronger safeguards governing AI agents accessing sensitive systems, including least-privilege permissions, restricted tool access, comprehensive activity logging and rapid containment mechanisms.
Manoj acknowledged that administrative restructuring alone would not prevent cyberattacks. Any change in oversight would need to preserve CERT-In's specialist capabilities, technical decision-making and international cooperation while avoiding additional bureaucracy or delays.
Citing the broader approach reflected in the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, he said governance, identification, protection, detection, response and recovery should operate as interconnected functions.
Cybersecurity preparedness, he argued, should be assessed not merely by the number of advisories issued or incidents reported, but by the speed of detection, effectiveness of containment, accuracy of forensic reconstruction and implementation of corrective measures following verified failures.
UNI DS
Tags: #Cybersecurity governance reform needed; expert calls for review of CERT-In’s control
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