Amrutha Avasarala, Pune
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has established a new cybersecurity unit to support innovation in the country with fundamental and applied research. IIT Madras inaugurated ‘Centre for Cybersecurity, Trust and Reliability’ CyStar on October 8th, 2024.
The entity includes numerous departments handling AI model security, cryptography, quantum security, Internet of Things security and blockchain.
CyStar will give a comprehensive, all-inclusive, multifaceted mechanism to tackle possible cyber threats from AI and the future of after-quantum -cyber. The defense will be critical national infrastructure-protection as a proper defense against those high-tech threats.
It will collaborate with academia, business and research organizations at a global and local level to provide them with the knowledge they need to answer the complex security issues of today and tomorrow. It will guarantee a safer digital space by solving essential security problems in key sectors like finance, healthcare, automotive, and electronics.
CyStar has its research, industry, and government partners such as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Education, Vitesco Technologies, Kaspersky, IDBI Bank, LG India, Saptang Labs, Algorand, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research, National Security Coordination Secretariat, among others.
Officially, as defined in IIT Madras, “The mission of CyStar is to push the boundaries of cybersecurity through innovative research and education.” This is because cybersecurity concerns are multidisciplinary in nature, and therefore, the research team that constitutes CyStar is heterogeneous, encompassing a wide spectrum of experience.
According to the notification, the proposed CyStar aims to create a knowledge and innovation ecosystem in which industry leaders, academia, and government institutions may work together in integrating and applying advances in knowledge to real-time cyber security goods or services.
Cyber security is a major concern for nations worldwide. The threat has moved various nations to take initiatives to protect people in the digital space. As of India in the first two quarters of 2024, 593 cyber crime cases were registered. There is a 30% year-on-year increase in cyber crime cases each year, globally. Approximately, there are 1,636 cases per week in each organization, according to research carried out by Check Point Research entity.