Karnataka govt sets aside Rs 100 cr for new Cyber Security Policy

Cyber security subsidy for startups, internship and stipends for undergraduate and postgraduate students and research grants are among a slew of measures announced in the Karnataka Cyber Security Policy 2022-27.

The policy also proposes a state-of-the-art virtual cyber range to strengthen practical skills among students of cyber security training programmes. The policy aims at ensuring data security in the state as Karnataka ranked second in incidents of cyber crime in the country.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in the number and type of cyber-attacks in the past year. This is proving to be a significant challenge to the goal of enabling citizens and businesses to ‘go digital’,” the policy read. The government has also set aside Rs 103.87 crore to implement the policy, which the Cabinet has approved.

Cyber range

The virtual cyber range will provide hands-on experience on detection and mitigation of cyber-attacks to students in an interactive technology environment. “Cyber range will also be utilised for training of law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, government officials, judicial officers and cyber security-related dispute mediators and conciliators,” according to the policy.

Incentives

The policy aims to provide matching grants of up to 50% for research and development of cyber security projects carried out by Karnataka-based startups in collaboration with academic institutes in the state. Maximum allocation for a startup will be Rs 50 lakh and the government will fund five such projects every year.

For undergraduate students who are doing internships related to cybersecurity, the government will provide a stipend of Rs 10,000 per month for a maximum of three months. For post-graduate students, the stipend is Rs 15,000 per month for a three-month period.

The stipends will be provided to 200 undergraduate interns and 40 postgraduate interns in the the first two years of the policy. The number will be doubled to 400 undergrads and 80 postgrads in the last three years of the policy.

The Cyber Security Policy, announced in the 2021-22 budget, has also envisaged cyber security awareness campaigns, establishing regional Centres of Excellence in cyber security and special emphasis on training women as cyber security professionals by offering subsidised training programmes.