Parliamentary Committee Recommends Civil Aviation Ministry To Have Separate Budget For Cyber-Security

The Parliamentary committee has supported the government's decision to ask airport/aircraft operators for reports on steps taken to enhance cyber security.

A parliamentary panel has asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to organise a strong and comprehensive mechanism to combat cyber-attacks. Many proposals for MoCA were included in the report that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture tabled in Parliament on March 13, reported news agency ANI.

The Committee believes that the aviation industry is exceptionally vulnerable to cyber-security risks since the majority of airlines have disclosed cases of cyber-attacks in recent years, placing air operations and passenger data in great danger. A number of flights in the United States of America recently got cancelled or delayed as a result of a potential cyberattack that rendered the websites of the airlines inoperable.

The Committee notes the issuance of necessary circular/order for combating cyberattacks and safeguarding private information in India's aviation sector, reported ANI. It supports the ministry's decision to ask airport/aircraft operators for reports on the preventative steps they have taken to safeguard the civil aviation sector from potential cyber-security risks.

The committee advises the government to speed up the receipt of responses from the concerned parties and requests information on a list of all the cyber-security precautions taken by airport and aircraft operators. It also mentions that 13 instances of cyberattacks have been reported by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) during the past five years. The committee is eager to learn more about these attacks' specifics and the ministry's response to them, reported ANI.

The committee observed that from 2019 to 2022, AAI spent Rs 51.8 crore on implementing cyber-security in civil aviation. It feels that the ministry should make concentrated efforts to overcome the challenges viz, adopting a multidisciplinary approach; data protection; and lacking skilled manpower. The Committee also suggests that the Ministry look into the potential of adding a distinct budget head and increasing the budgetary allocations in order to properly monitor the difficulties relating to cyber-security.

(With inputs from ANI)