The Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA) is a tri-service

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

of the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

. Headquartered in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, the agency is tasked with handling

cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

threats. The DCyA draws personnel from all three branches of the Armed Forces. The head of the DCyA is an officer of

two-star rank An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the rank ...

, and reports to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) through the

Integrated Defence Staff The Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) is an organisation responsible for fostering coordination and enabling prioritisation across the different branches of the Indian Armed Forces. It is composed of representatives from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, ...

(IDS).

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

Rear Admiral Mohit Gupta was appointed in May 2019 as the first head of the DCyA. The DCyA was expected to be operational by November 2019. As of 2021, DCyA is fully operational with Army, Air Force and Navy established their respective Cyber Emergency Response Teams (CERT).

History

The Naresh Chandra Task Force was set up in July 2011 by

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

Shivshankar Menon Shivshankar Menon (born 5 July 1949) is an Indian diplomat, who served as National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. He had previously served as the Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs ...

to review the recommendations of the

Kargil Review Committee The Kargil Review Committee (KRC) was set up by the Government of India on 29 July 1999, three days after the end of the Kargil War. The committee was set up "to examine the sequence of events and make recommendations for the future". Over a hu ...

, assess the implementation progress and further suggest new reforms related to national security. The task force was led by

Naresh Chandra Naresh Chandra (1 August 1934 – 9 July 2017) was a 1956 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, who served as the Cabinet Secretary of India, Defence Secretary of India, Home Secretary of India, Water Resources Secretary of India and Indian A ...

, retired

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

officer, and comprised 13other members, including

Gopalaswami Parthasarathy Captain Gopalaswami Parthasarathy, popularly known as G. Parthasarathy (born 13 May 1940) is a former commissioned officer in the Indian Army (1963-1968) and a diplomat and author. He has served as the High Commissioner of India, Cyprus (19 ...

, Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy (Retd),

Admiral Arun Prakash Admiral Arun Prakash, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM (born October 1944) is a former Flag Officer of the Indian Navy. He served as the Chief of the Naval Staff from 31 July 2004 to 31 October 2006 and as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee ...

(Retd), Lt Gen V. R. Raghavan (Retd),

Anil Kakodkar Anil Kakodkar (born 11 November 1943) is an Indian nuclear physicist and mechanical engineer. He was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, he was the Director of the Bhabha Atomic ...

, K C Verma and V K Duggal. The committee conducted the first holistic review of national security since the Kargil Review Committee and submitted its classified report to Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

on 23May2012. Among its recommendations, the Task Force recommended the creation of a cyber command (DCyA), an aerospace command and a special operations command. All three units were proposed to be tri-service commands in order to bring the various special forces units of the military under a unified command and control structure. The creation of the Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA), the Defence Space Agency (DSA), and the

Armed Forces Special Operations Division The Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) is a tri-service command of the Indian Armed Forces. The division is tasked to carry out special operations. The AFSOD draws personnel from all three special warfare branches of the Armed Fo ...

(AFSOD) were approved by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

during the Combined Commanders' Conference at

Jodhpur Air Force Station Jodhpur Airport is a civil enclave airport in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. It is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and shares its airside with the Jodhpur Airforce Station of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Government of Rajas ...

on 28 September 2018. The existing Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency will be upgraded to form the new Defence Cyber Agency.

Area of responsibility

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's ed ...

'' reported that the DCyA would have the capability to hack into networks, mount surveillance operations, lay honeypot, recover deleted data from hard drives and cellphones, break into

encrypted communication Secure communication is when two entities are communicating and do not want a third party to listen in. For this to be the case, the entities need to communicate in a way that is unsusceptible to eavesdropping or interception. Secure communication ...

channels, and perform other complex objectives. According to Lieutenant General

Deependra Singh Hooda Lieutenant general, Lieutenant General Deependra Singh Hooda, Param Vishisht Seva Medal, PVSM, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, UYSM, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, AVSM, Vishisht Seva Medal, VSM Medal bar, & Bar, Aide-de-camp, ADC (born 12 November 1956) is th ...

, the DCyA will have the responsibility of framing a long-term policy for the security of military networks, which includes eliminating the use of foreign hardware and software in the

, and preparing a

Cyberwarfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...

doctrine.

References

{{Military of India Ministry of Defence (India) Government agencies established in 2018 2018 establishments in India Joint military units and formations of India

History

Area of responsibility

See also

References