Defence Cyber

By December 2018, the national framework included the National Cyber Security Policy (2013), CERT-In, the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and a National Cyber Security Coordinator in the National Security Council Secretariat. For the armed forces, the Government approved a framework in 2018 for enhancing the cyber posture of the Defence Forces. The Defence Cyber Agency was raised in 2018-19, together with the Defence Space Agency and the Armed Forces Special Operations Division, to address critical capability voids. By 3 December 2021, the Defence Cyber Agency and Army, Navy and Air Force Cyber Groups had been established.

From 16 to 27 June 2025, the Defence Cyber Agency held Cyber Suraksha, a multi-phased cyber security exercise under Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, with over 100 participants from national-level agencies and defence stakeholders. It combined targeted training sessions, evaluation and a capsule for leadership, and simulated real-world cyber threats in a gamified environment. A conclave of Chief Information Security Officers was built into the exercise, culminating in a table-top exercise. The agency said it plans to conduct such exercises regularly.

Within the armed forces, the Defence Cyber Agency is a specialist branch of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, and Army, Navy and Air Force Cyber Groups are charged with protecting and defending the Defence Forces' ICT assets. At the national level, CERT-In is the agency for responding to cyber security incidents under section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and NCIIPC is the nodal agency for protecting critical information infrastructure under section 70A. The National Cyber Security Coordinator, in the National Security Council Secretariat, ensures coordination among agencies. Cyber fraud, payments security and CERT-In's incident-reporting rules are covered on the Fintech & Cyber Security page.

On 1 January 2025, the Ministry of Defence declared 2025 the Year of Reforms and said reforms should focus on new domains such as cyber and space. In May 2024, the Chief of Defence Staff said integrated theatre commands would lead to reforms including fusing space and cyberspace into traditional domains. The Defence Cyber Agency plans to conduct exercises like Cyber Suraksha on a regular basis, while the national exercise run by the National Security Council Secretariat grew from more than 140 officials trained in April 2022 to over 600 participants trained in November 2024. Bharat NCX 2025 ran from 21 July to 1 August 2025 with Rashtriya Raksha University, and on 7 August 2025 the Chiefs of Staff Committee released a Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations.

2018 framework for the Defence Forces' cyber posture approved. 2018-19 Defence Cyber Agency raised. 100+ participants in Cyber Suraksha (16–27 Jun 2025). 140+ officials trained in NCX India (Apr 2022), 300+ participants in Bharat NCX 2023 and 600+ trained in Bharat NCX 2024. 109 CERT-In mock drills with 1,438 organisations, and 200 empanelled security auditing organisations (Mar 2025); 122 drills and exercises with about 1,570 organisations in 2025, and 231 empanelled audit organisations (Jan 2026). Sources: Ministry of Defence and Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, National Security Council Secretariat and Ministry of Electronics & IT, via PIB.