Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative
The Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative is a national awareness and capacity-building program launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. It aims to strengthen the cybersecurity ecosystem in India by educating government officials and building their capacity to mitigate cyber threats.
Overview and Objectives
Launched on January 19, 2018, the initiative is a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership (PPP) between the government and a consortium of IT industry leaders.
Key objectives include:
- Awareness: Spreading awareness about the evolving landscape of cybercrime and the importance of cyber hygiene and safety.
- Capacity Building: Enabling Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT officials across all government departments to understand cyberattacks comprehensively and defend digital infrastructures.
- Policy Formulation: Providing officials with a holistic view of legal provisions and best practices, empowering them to formulate robust cybersecurity policies and crisis management plans.
- Public-Private Partnership: Fostering collaboration between government and industry experts to share knowledge and best practices for creating a cyber-resilient ecosystem.
Key Components
The initiative operates on three core principles: education, awareness, and enablement.
- CISO "Deep-Dive" Training Programmes: The primary activity is organizing intensive, multi-day training programs. These sessions are designed for CISOs and IT staff from Central and State/UT governments, PSUs, public sector banks, and technical wings of security forces.
- Industry Consortium: Leading IT companies such as Microsoft, Intel, E&Y, IBM, Cisco, and others form an industry consortium that collaborates to deliver the training and share the latest technologies and global best practices.
- Knowledge Partners: MeitY organizations like the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) serve as knowledge partners, supporting the program's design and delivery.
Key Developments and Status (Late 2024 - December 2025)
- Ongoing CISO Training Batches: The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) has continued to organize intensive training sessions for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and IT officials across various government departments.
- The 44th CISO Deep-Dive training program was conducted in May 2024.
- The 45th batch of training was also conducted subsequently, with progress reported in November 2025 press releases.
- Widespread Participation: These programs have seen wide participation from officials across numerous states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, and others, ensuring a pan-India approach to cybersecurity capacity building.
- Focus on Resilience: The training curriculum is continuously updated in consultation with industry partners to address emerging threats like AI-driven attacks and complex fraud schemes. The goal remains enabling government departments to build "cyber-resilient ecosystems" and formulate effective crisis management plans.
- Collaboration and Awareness: The initiative works alongside other government efforts like the "Cyber Swachhta Kendra" (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre), which has onboarded hundreds of organizations to enhance malware protection. The initiative also supports broader public awareness campaigns, such as cybersecurity competitions launched for CBSE-affiliated schools in July 2025.
- High-Level Workshops: Beyond the CISO training batches, high-level CISO workshops have been organized, such as one in September 2024 that brought together over 250 senior officials to discuss cyber awareness and resilience strategies.
The initiative underscores the government's continued focus on proactive measures to counter the escalating threat landscape in India's rapidly digitizing environment.
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