The emerging digital trend across Indo-Pacific nations is that they are assiduously harnessing information and communication technologies (ICT) for a wide range of economic and social purposes. The championing of ICT, however, has provided malicious state/non-state actors an opportunity to breach computer networks, steal sensitive data, and disrupt critical infrastructure. Over the past couple of years, writes security expert Sameer Patil in a recently published paper, the onset of Covid-19 has only deepened this threat as cyber saboteurs have capitalised on the pandemic to carry out debilitating cyberattacks. India, with the world’s second-largest internet user base and an advanced technology sector, has been taking the initiative to offer help to friendly countries in the Indo-Pacific.

In the process, it is buttressing its standing in the region as its leading democracy and digitised society. By elevating its cyber profile over the past decade and making cyber security a domestic policy priority, it is finding many takers for its expertise among Indo-Pacific states. For example, exchanges on best cybersecurity practices, capacity-building to protect critical infrastructure, and tackling threats posed by cybercrimes have resulted in bilateral cyber dialogues between India and Australia, Egypt, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America (USA), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) respectively. Bilateral cyber agreements have also been inked by New Delhi with Bangladesh, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Vietnam and Tanzania.

According to a report by Cisco Systems, one in two small and medium-sized businesses across the Asia-Pacific region have suffered a cyber intrusion in the past year. Non-state actors or cybercriminal syndicates exploit inadequate cyber hygiene and lack of awareness of cybersecurity to carry out these attacks which cumulatively prove debilitating for economic growth. But many businesses still lack the financial and technical resources to protect themselves from cyber risks. China has emerged as the leading malicious state actor, responsible for several cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure (including election infrastructure), advanced persistent threat (APT) vectors used for espionage, and disinformation campaigns against its adversaries. Beijing has long been accused of executing these cyberattacks as part of its ‘grey zone operations’ strategy to intimidate and coerce its adversaries without engaging in direct military conflict.

In response, digital democracies in the region – especially Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan ~ have strengthened their domestic legislative and regulatory frameworks to deal with cyberattacks. Taiwan has created an extensive network of institutions under the National Defence and Justice Investigation Bureau ministries to counter cyber threats from China, while Japan has augmented its cyber capabilities to withstand cyberattacks from China and North Korea. Asean, meanwhile, has doubled down on the region’s Computer Emergency Response Teams to strengthen cyber cooperation between member-states