On 14 and 15 October 2013, the Observer Research Foundation and FICCI are organising the India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance.

A rapid evolution of technology and the near omnipresence of the internet now mean that technical and policy related challenges around the cyber-space are evolving rapidly and constantly. Even as this virtual space allows unparalleled connectivity and communication, it is fast becoming contested territory. People and nations are now critically dependent on inherently vulnerable and excessively networked infrastructure. Most militaries, organised crime syndicates, secret services and other actors have realised the underlying strategic potential of these critical vulnerabilities. Militaries can be disabled to alter defence postures. Critical Infrastructures in public and private spaces can be manipulated to threaten politics. Economies can be weakened through acts of sabotage and espionage. People can be polarised and mobilised by the connectedness of the World Wide Web. None of these postulations are based on future scenarios. Each of these has been proved to be right in recent times. Cyber space is an increasingly risky discourse and therefore will inevitably be securitised.

The conference will address the difficult questions that this new situation raises.