Antony asks army to remain vigilant against cyber threat

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Defence Minister A K Antonytoday asked the armed forces to be vigilant against theemerging cyber warfare threat and gear up their infrastructureto tackle the security challenge.

Antony was addressing defence officials during thecentenary celebrations of the Corps of Signal. He alsohighlighted the Corps'' effort in tackling cyber threats.

"The contribution of the Corps in enhancing cybersecurity is worth a mention. However, the Corps needs to beever vigilant as cyber threats continue to multiply andintensify by the day," he said.

The minister also praised the Signal Regiments foradopting latest technologies which has helped the Army inbecoming a network-centric force.

"The Corps has done commendable work, be it infielding futuristic strategic defence communication networks,or development of state-of-the-art tactical communicationsystems," he said.

Besides Antony, Minister of State for Defence M MPallam Raju, Minister of State for Communication andInformation Technology Gurudas Kamat, Army Chief General V KSingh and Signal Officer-in-Chief Lieutenant General PMohapatra also attended the function.

Referring to telecommunications and cyberinfrastructure as national assets, Pallam Raju underlinedtheir importance in national security as well.

"Information and communication technology will be akey factor in reshaping the methodology of war fighting in thefuture," he said.

He also mentioned the necessity of having a command andcontrol structure at the highest levels of government to dealwith cyber attacks launched by unknown people.

"Any serious disruption can jeopardies our functioningincluding our responses to the war being raised by ouradversaries," said Pallam Raju.

Terming the Corps of Signal as the "nervous system" forthe future army, Army Chief General Singh said, "The modernwarfare has undergone a paradigm shift.

"In all future wars, information superiority will beone of the key battle winning factors and future battlefieldmilieu would require communication system that are secure,responsive and reliable," Singh said.