Cisco signs MoU with CERT-In for cyber security

Cisco India has signed an MoU with Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) for strategic cyber security cooperation, which aims to enhance digital security readiness and awareness of cyber security.  

Recognising the integral role of cybersecurity in the digital economy, Cisco and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for strategic cybersecurity cooperation, which aims to enhance digital security readiness and awareness of cybersecurity.  

The MoU was signed in the presence of the minister of electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, government of India, and Dinesh Malkani, president, Sales, Cisco India and SAARC. 

Under this MoU, Cisco and CERT-In will establish a threat intelligence sharing program wherein personnel from Cisco and CERT-In will work cooperatively together to address cybersecurity threats and incidents, identify and shape emerging security market trends, share leading practices, and learn new approaches to enhance cybersecurity. 

As per a Cisco Report, there are more than 1 million unfulfilled security jobs worldwide currently. To help increase the pool of talent with critical cybersecurity proficiency, Cisco announced a $10 million Global Cybersecurity Scholarship globally in June 2016. The Cisco Network Academy program has enhanced its security portfolio with a new Cybersecurity Essentials course. In India, Cisco Network Academy program has trained 122,000 students and is committed to training an additional 250,000 students by 2020.

As part of Cisco’s efforts to enhance its abilities to deliver cybersecurity capabilities in India, Cisco also announced three new investments. 

Cisco will open a new Security Operations Center (SOC) in Pune to provide a broad range of services, from monitoring and management to comprehensive threat solutions and hosted security that can be customized to meet customer needs. Cisco has three Security Operations Centers worldwide, located in strategic geographies: Poland, the US and Japan. With India as the fourth location, this structure allows Cisco to provide a 24-hour service for customers, regardless of time zone, using a “follow the sun” model.

Aiming to address cyber security issue, Cisco announced the launch of the Cisco Cyber Range Lab in its Gurgaon facility, which will provide specialized technical training workshops to help security staff build the skills and experience necessary to combat new-age cyber threats. Cyber Range Lab will simulate an environment that allows staff to play the role of both attacker and defender to learn the latest methods of vulnerability exploitation and the use of advanced tools and techniques to mitigate and remove threats.

Recognizing that cybersecurity is critical to India’s drive to digitize its economy, Cisco’s global Security & Trust Organization (S&TO) and Cisco India announced the formation of Cisco S&TO – India. In furtherance of that mission, Cisco S&TO – India will advise on and help the government shape the national cyber security strategy and initiatives. 

Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of electronics and information technology, government of India, said, “In light of rapidly evolving cyber tactics and shared risks in cyberspace, the need to work side-by-side with industry partners on pressing cyber-challenges becomes increasingly important. We are happy to have Cisco collaborate with us to enhance the security of India’s digital infrastructure and speed up digitalization of India”

Dinesh Malkani, president, Cisco India and SAARC, said, “Cisco is committed to helping achieve India’s digital transformation by enabling a digital ready infrastructure and security everywhere. Today’s cyber security announcements reaffirm Cisco’s long-term commitment to India, a strategic center of country digitization and innovation. At Cisco we securely connect everything to make anything possible.”