John Garstka, Director for Cyber Warfare at the US Department of Defense, warned that rising cyber-attacks pose serious threats to critical infrastructure and the defense-industrial base, with real-world consequences for military operations. Speaking at the 2025 Space Systems Command Cyber Expo, he emphasized the need for full-lifecycle risk assessments, robust infrastructure protection, and stronger partnerships with industry to secure next-generation space systems. Yet, this 21st century threat extends well past space systems and US borders. According to a 2024 CloudSEK threat report, India ranked as the second most targeted nation globally, amounting to 95 entities attacked and 850 million records of India citizens’ data leaked. With the United States topping the same list, there is a strong argument for immediate and robust US-India cooperation on cybersecurity.
Overall, digital development has been outpacing cyber threat readiness, meaning countries need to effectively double down on proactive measures to align cybersecurity strategy with evolving digital realities. According to the World Economic Forum, resilient cybersecurity depends upon infrastructure protection, cyber capacity development, public-private or international partnerships, accountability mechanisms, and adaptive policy processes. The United States has made strong progress in cybersecurity through infrastructure protection, workforce development, and public-private initiatives like the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC). Yet, challenges remain: a growing talent gap, fragmented regulations, and weak protections for vulnerable groups. A recent executive order from the Trump administration amended prior US cybersecurity directives by shifting federal policies on secure software development, quantum-resistant encryption, AI-driven cyber defense, and regulatory alignment.
India’s Cybersecurity Context
India, meanwhile, has adopted principles that fall in line with global practices under Defense-in-Depth through Layered Security. The protocol emphasizes protection across multiple levels, from physical infrastructure and network perimeters to host defenses, application security, and mobile endpoint management. Rooted in the CIA triad of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, this layered approach ensures that if one mechanism fails, others can slow, block, or neutralize threats. It addresses the rising complexity of cyberattacks and calls for securing everything from traditional networks to cloud systems, email, and mobile devices. Key measures include encryption, intrusion detection, network segmentation, and continuous auditing.
Networsy Technologies LLP’s assessment highlights the technical depth of India’s cybersecurity frameworks in defense systems. Core elements integrate technical controls like network segmentation, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), encryption, and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to protect data and limit unauthorized access. It emphasizes indigenous technologies such as Maya OS, Chakravyuh, and AFNet, along with surveillance systems like NETRA, NATGRID, and IMAC for real-time threat monitoring and data fusion. Infrastructure is further secured through hardened operating systems and a Zero Trust Architecture that assumes no implicit trust for any user or device.
Putting its digital indigenization to the test, India’s cyber sector has performed in practice, demonstrating meaningful cyber capabilities. India’s cybersecurity and air defense capabilities successfully converged during Operation Sindoor through the effective use of the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), which enabled real-time threat detection, coordinated responses, and successful interception of Pakistani aerial attacks. Leveraging indigenous technologies, AI, and secure networks like AFNET, India showcased its ability to conduct network-centric warfare and protect critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, India’s cyber sector has begun tackling quantum-safe communication, aiming to eliminate cybercrime through ISRO-DRDO (Indian Space Research Organization-Defence Research and Development Organization) initiatives toward Quantum Key Distribution (QKD; physics-based encryption).
However, as India’s digital transformation accelerates, its vulnerabilities become more pronounced. Modernizing current defense systems require persistent overhauls of operating technologies to ensure that data is shared both efficiently and accurately. India’s digitization of defense infrastructure has consequently expanded its cybersecurity vulnerabilities, exposing critical systems to espionage, advanced persistent threats, ransomware, insider breaches, and compromised supply chains. Several cases exemplify high-profile cyber vulnerabilities in India’s defense, as well as illustrate the urgent need for reform.
In March, 2025, a DRDO-related data leak from an ex-official’s personal device compromised roughly 20TB of data stolen, exposing weak endpoint controls and mobile device security. A few months later, an unverified breach targeted Indian defense websites. The alleged cyberattacks focused on the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and Military Engineer Services (MES), resulting in claims of data theft involving sensitive information of over 1,600 users and defacement of multiple sites. These cases suggest systemic weaknesses in network segmentation and public-facing application security. Moreover, scholarly literature has noted the oversight and governance gaps in systems like NATGRID and NETRA, undermining public trust and credibility.
The Case for US-India Cybersecurity Cooperation
The United States can play a pivotal role in helping India strengthen its cybersecurity posture by sharing advanced technologies, best practices, and expertise in infrastructure protection and workforce development. Through deeper collaboration, the U.S. can support India in closing critical gaps, enabling India to build a more resilient and proactive cyber defense system.
To start, India’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities can significantly benefit through the engagement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). For instance, NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 “provides guidance…that can be used by any organization regardless of its size, sector or maturity.” For India, helpful CSF core functions include Govern and Respond, which are particularly important for establishing cybersecurity expectations (define endpoint controls) and timely containment (proper incident management).
India can also benefit from deeper integration with US agencies. For instance, Cyber Swachhta Kendra could collaborate with the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to integrate behavioral-based malware detection tools and leverage U.S. threat intelligence feeds. While the CISA restricts access to the Malware Next-Gen Analysis platform to US government users, expanding controlled access could significantly enhance joint cybersecurity efforts. Similarly, CERT-In’s cyber crisis management and training programs could utilize joint simulations with the US Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP), allowing India to adopt tested escalation protocols and improve inter-agency coordination during large-scale attacks.
These needs are particularly urgent given India’s unique cyber insecurity risks along its northeastern border, especially in Myanmar. Job scams luring Indians to Southeast Asia, especially Myanmar’s KK Park, have exposed thousands to forced cybercrime operations involving cryptocurrency fraud, psychological coercion, and trafficking. These incidents underscore the urgent need for India to strengthen its cybersecurity enforcement, especially as such vulnerabilities weaken India’s cybersecurity resilience and complicate trusted cooperation within US-India defense and technology partnerships. India could benefit from programs like the National Cybersecurity Alliance, supported by CISA, dedicated to cyber literacy and awareness programs (see example article).
Finally, allusions toward a National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) should become an immediate priority-turned-reality. Despite progress in cyber incident response and institutional development, India lacks a unified, forward-looking National Cybersecurity Strategy. The Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework, mandatory since April 2025, strengthens India’s financial cybersecurity by requiring firms to follow graded rules for threat monitoring, audits, and incident response. However, it doesn’t apply to key defense bodies like DRDO or the armed forces and lacks strong international coordination tools. As a result, India’s critical defense sectors remain governed by fragmented or underdeveloped cybersecurity policies.
India may even take cues from recent US debates about decisions made under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), specifically the elimination of the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC). Whether severing sensitive cyber information ties between government and industry representatives is beneficial or harmful remains to be seen. However, confirmed effects include suspended projects between the telecom sector on AI-powered threat intelligence and halted NSA collaboration on nation-state attacks. India should take this as a cautionary lesson: dismantling links between the private sector and the government has the potential to handicap innovation and collective defense.
In this globalized digital age, the divide between cyber security and insecurity has never been more consequential. While nations must build robust systems from within, they must also find trusted partners abroad to bridge strategic gaps. There must be a willingness from both parties to accept cyber interdependence as an innovation and risk multiplier. For India and the United States, the choice is clear: innovate, cooperate, or fall behind in a rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.
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