Cherian Samuel

India’s Strategic Options in a Changing Cyberspace

Publisher: Pentagon Press

The book is structured to perform a role both as a primer to those who wish to understand the strategic issues and key concepts in cyberspace, as well as to provide sufficient pointers to those who wish to have an in-depth understanding on specific issues.

Among the major issues examined are the efficacy of the concept of cyber deterrence, the troubled history of norm-making in cyberspace, protecting critical infrastructure from crippling cyber attacks, the viability of Active Cyber Defence as a means of responding to the sheer scale of attacks, and its attendant legal and ethical issues. Emerging technologies and their potential impact on an already dynamic domain are also the subject to scrutiny, as also the various models of public-Private Partnership in cybersecurity around the world.

ISBN: 978-93-86618-66-5,
Price: ?.746/-
E-copy available

The Darkening Web: The War for Cyberspace, by Alexander Klimburg

The introduction to Alexander Klimburg’s book, The Darkening Web: The War for Cyberspace, begins by referencing the Indian parable of the Blind Men of Hindoostan and the elephant to bring out the difficulty of ‘grasping the entirety of cyberspace’. The focus of his book is on international security, and more specifically, the security interests of states in cyberspace. That said, a large part of the book focuses on three countries—the United States, Russia and China—and their approaches and actions in cyberspace. Europe is mentioned largely in the context of privacy and data laws.

Destination India for Global Conference on Cyberspace 2017

The 2017 Conference also comes at a time when the existing international discourses on securing cyberspace, whether it be the UNGGE process or the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), seem to be unable to cope with the accelerated developments in cyberspace.

Cherian Samuel |
January 16, 2017 |
Issue Brief

Securing Cyberspace: International and Asian Perspectives

Publisher: Pentagon Press

This edited volume contains the papers presented at the 18th Asian Security Conference at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses held in February 2016. The authors, drawn from government, law enforcement, diplomacy, private sector, armed forces and academia, examine a range of issues central to cybersecurity. The chapters in this volume not only provide an outline of the journey so far, but more importantly, give indicators of future trends in cybersecurity from the vantage point of the respective experts.

Contributions from Asia are particularly highlighted to promote and provoke greater discussion on perspective from within the region on cybersecurity issues.

ISBN 978-81-8274-918-4,
Price: ₹ 1295
E-copy available

Concerns About Proposed US Rules on Cybersecurity Products

While the Wassenaar Arrangement has instant recall in nuclear circles, it has only recently become a source of turmoil in cybersecurity, after the US Bureau of Industry and Security published rules that are applicable to cyber technologies.

Cherian Samuel |
July 20, 2015 |
IDSA Comments

Asian Participation in the London Process

While Asia is home to the largest number of internet users on the planet, there is comparatively little contribution from the region to the discussions on cybersecurity.

Cherian Samuel |
March 31, 2015 |
IDSA Comments

Taking Stock of the Public-Private Partnership in Cybersecurity

Effective cybersecurity calls for a close partnership between the government in its role as custodian of the nation’s security, and the private sector, in both roles of information infrastructure provider as well as the provider of many critical services.

Cherian Samuel |
December 31, 2014 |
IDSA Comments

Cybersecurity: Global, Regional and Domestic Dynamics

Governments find themselves struggling to deal with the issue of cybersecurity. Given the current state of play in cybersecurity, it is not surprising that any discussion sooner or later ends up as a confusing mix of viewpoints on fundamental rights, privacy, law enforcement, human rights, globalisation and national security, thus leading to a gridlock.

A Comprehensive Approach to Internet Governance and Cybersecurity

The pressing issues around cyberspace revolve around internet governance, cybersecurity and drawing up rules of the road for the new domain of cyberwar. While each of these is at a different stage in its evolution cycle, cyberspace itself is facing a watershed moment as insecurities mount. The fragmentation of cyberspace seems inevitable unless there is accelerated movement on resolving the fundamental issues of internet governance and cybersecurity that have been hanging fire for well over a decade.

The US’ Surveillance Review Panel Report: An Assessment

The 300-page report has 46 recommendations offering drastic solutions while addressing many of the issues in the wake of the Snowden revelations. The Administration has already rejected a key recommendation; that since both the NSA and Cyber Command have conflicting functions, the NSA should be placed under civilian control and should be split from the Cyber Command.