Parliament Question: Cyber Security Research Centres

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1713 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 10.12.2025 CYBER SECURITY RESEARCH CENTRES †1713. SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA: SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) the steps taken by the Government so far to strengthen the cyber security research and training infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh; (b) whether the Government has established Cyber Security Research Centres or Digital Forensic Laboratories in the State and if so, the details thereof including their location, capacity and current functioning; (c) the number of cyber security awareness and capacity building programmes organised so far for industries, start-ups and educational institutions in the State along with district-wise details thereof; and (d) the initiatives and policy measures taken by the Government to promote data security, check cyber fraud and address emerging cyber threats in the IT eco-system of Uttar Pradesh? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): The policies of the Government are aimed at ensuring an Open, Safe, Trusted and Accountable Internet for all users. Research & Development (R&D), innovation, training and awareness form an integral part of the national cyber security ecosystem. The Government has taken several steps to strengthen cyber security research, training and awareness in the country, including in the State of Uttar Pradesh, which inter alia comprises the following: Self-Paced Cyber Range – C-DAC, Noida Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Noida has set up a Self-Paced Learning Facility equipped with around 100 automated cyber security scenarios based on real-time cyber-attacks. So far, 6,000+ students and Government officials have been trained through this facility, including about 1,400 participants from Uttar Pradesh. Cybersecurity and Cybersecurity for Cyber-Physical Systems Innovation Hub (C3iHub) C3iHub has been established at IIT Kanpur under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber- Physical Systems.• It hosts national-level and industry-scale critical-infrastructure testbeds (power generation, transmission and distribution, 4-stage water treatment, manufacturing automation, industrial robots, etc.) • Conducts research, vulnerability assessment and real-time threat detection on Industrial Control Systems (ICS) • Also provides hands-on ICS cyber security training for Government officials and other stakeholders Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA) Workshops ISEA is an initiative for building human resources in Information Security and to spread cyber hygiene awareness among citizens. So far, 4,125 workshops have been conducted, reaching over 9.25 lakh+ participants, including academia, law enforcement, government personnel, & general public. Out of these, 401 awareness workshops have been organised in Uttar Pradesh, covering 68,388 participants. District-wise details of workshops in Uttar Pradesh are at Annexure–I. National Cyber Security Awareness Activities The Government organises events and activities for citizens as well as the technical cyber community across the country. Some of these include: • National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in October every year • Safer Internet Day on the first Tuesday of February • Swachhta Pakhwada (1st–15th February), and • Cyber Jagrookta Diwas (CJD) on the first Wednesday of every month, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) CERT-In conducts cyber security training programs in collaboration with Industry partners to upskill the cyber security workforce in Government, public and private organizations. 53 training programs have been conducted covering around 32,000 participants during the year 2024 and 2025 (Up to November). These include over 2100 participants from Uttar Pradesh. CERT-In also regularly shares awareness material through its official websites and social media handles. This is for sensitizing internet users on cyber security attacks, frauds and prevention measures. Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) The TIH at IIT Kanpur is involved in training programmes such as Advanced Certification Program in Cyber Security and Cyber Defence and Professional Certification in Blockchain program. As part of these programmes, more than 1200 individuals are being trained. The TIH at IIT Kanpur has conducted a total of 23 Training Programs for more than 700 officials from Government/ Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) like the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Home Affairs, National Informatics Centre and security agencies. In 2023, the TIH carried out a cybersecurity skilling program training over 10000 students (free for SC/ST Students).TIH has also carried out vocational courses in cybersecurity with Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur. During Phase I, over 94000 students were trained, and currently under Phase II, over 1 lakh students affiliated with the university across 7 districts are being trained. Government has taken several legal, technical, and administrative policy measures for addressing cyber security challenges in the country: 1. Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 • Establishes the legal framework governing the processing of digital personal data in India o Act and Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 notified on 13 November 2025. • Requires all Data Fiduciaries to ensure responsible processing of personal data, with clear obligations relating. • Ensures transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, security safeguards, timely erasure, and respect for the rights of Data Principals • Mandates prompt notification of personal data breaches to both affected individuals and the Data Protection Board of India. 2. National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) • It is implemented by CERT-In and examines the cyberspace to detect cyber security threats. • It shares the information with concerned organizations, state governments and stakeholder agencies for taking action 3. Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) • A citizen-centric service provided by CERT-In, which extends the vision of Swachh Bharat to the Cyber Space • It is the Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre and helps to detect malicious programs and provides free tools to remove the same • It also provides cyber security tips and best practices for citizens and organisations 4. Cyber security mock drills are conducted regularly to enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of various organisations. 5. CERT-In has empanelled 231 security auditing organizations to support and audit implementation of Information Security Best Practices 6. CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities including malicious attacks using Artificial Intelligence and countermeasures to protect computers, networks and data on an ongoing basis 7. The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) as an attached office to deal with all types of cyber-crimes in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner 8. CERT-In has issued updated technical guidelines in July 2025 for Bill of Materials (BOM) for software, hardware, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing & Cryptography requirements a. These guidelines are aimed to enhance the security and transparency of supply chains for software, hardware & emerging technologies. 9. CERT-In has published “Cyber Security Guidelines for Smart City Infrastructure” in February 2025 including measures for secure usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for smart city infrastructure and applications.***** Annexure-I Awareness Workshops (District-wise) conducted in Uttar Pradesh under ISEA Project S. No. District Name No. of Workshops No. of Participants 1 Agra 10 1,046 2 Aligarh 2 65 3 Ambedkar Nagar 1 53 4 Amethi 1 49 5 Amroha 1 65 6 Auraiya 1 90 7 Ayodhya 2 130 8 Azamgarh 2 213 9 Baghpat 1 148 10 Bahraich 1 152 11 Ballia 3 303 12 Balrampur 1 115 13 Banda 1 110 14 Bara Banki 3 265 15 Bareilly 1 105 16 Basti 1 128 17 Bhadohi 2 311 18 Bijnor 4 154 19 Budaun 2 106 20 Bulandshahr 10 523 21 Chandauli 2 30022 Chitrakoot 1 300 23 Deoria 1 147 24 Etah 7 1,895 25 Etawah 1 85 26 Farrukhabad 1 70 27 Fatehpur 3 414 28 Firozabad 11 2,661 29 Gautam Buddha Nagar 90 18,040 30 Ghaziabad 12 718 31 Ghazipur 7 1,597 32 Gonda 4 475 33 Gorakhpur 7 703 34 Hamirpur 1 75 35 Hapur 2 90 36 Hardoi 1 125 37 Hathras 1 117 38 Jalaun 1 76 39 Jaunpur 1 55 40 Jhansi 3 284 41 Kannauj 1 70 42 Kanpur Dehat 2 155 43 Kanpur Nagar 6 1,031 44 Kasganj 1 45 45 Kaushambi 3 670 46 Kushinagar 1 152 47 Lakhimpur Kheri 4 269 48 Lalitpur 1 54 49 Lucknow 35 9,752 50 Mahoba 1 60 51 Mahrajganj 5 626 52 Mainpuri 77 17,232 53 Mathura 2 233 54 Mau 1 98 55 Meerut 8 1,678 56 Mirzapur 1 102 57 Moradabad 2 131 58 Muzaffarnagar 1 110 59 Pilibhit 8 486 60 Pratapgarh 1 150 61 Prayagraj 1 101 62 Rae Bareli 3 26963 Rampur 5 440 64 Saharanpur 1 63 65 Sambhal 1 102 66 Sant Kabir Nagar 1 104 67 Shahjahanpur 4 426 68 Shamli 1 65 69 Shrawasti 1 103 70 Siddharthnagar 1 150 71 Sitapur 1 112 72 Sonbhadra 6 386 73 Sultanpur 2 109 74 Unnao 1 60 75 Varanasi 4 436 Total 401 68,388 *****