COVID19 has forced a sharp increase in the adoption of remote working solutions across the world. Zoom’s daily participants have risen from 10 million in December 2019 to 300 million in April 2020. Microsoft Teams’ daily active users have risen by 70% in the two months since March 2020. ‘Work from home’ may well be the norm for the foreseeable future. A look at the global proliferation of the top 26 online apps to date.

COVID-19 and remote working have resulted in a surge in demand for digital intermediaries, such as Zoom. Most of these are U.S.-based, with some having servers in China, which has aggravated privacy concerns. IT companies have responded quickly by fortifying themselves internally through a range of measures, but it is now time for India’s highly accomplished tech industry to devise secure, scalable platforms with India-based servers

India’s has transited innovatively from a cash-based economy to one primarily reliant on digital payment systems. This has brought financial inclusion and transparency, but security threats too, such as data breaches. A look at the major vulnerabilities assailing India’s digital payment systems and ways to plug them.

The recently announced New and Emerging Strategic Technologies (NEST) Division of India’s Ministry of External Affairs is timely. It can become vital for India’s national technosecurity in the imminent Fourth Industrial Age if a new Cabinet Committee on Futuristic Science and Technologies is established along with it

The current wave of protests sweeping India and the government’s suspension of internet services to impede communication has led to innovation. Protesters have taken recourse to offline messaging applications to escape detection while executing their plans. This infographic tracks the evolution of online media – from the basic to the more discreet

Professor Ajay Agrawal is one of the world’s leading economists on Artificial Intelligence and the author of - Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence. On December 18 Gateway House co-hosted a lecture by him on Power & Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence

India’s status as a key geoeconomic power calls for indigenous R&D of critical information-communication-technology infrastructure at least a generation ahead of time. India must activate the exploratory R&D phase on sixth-generation (6G) network technologies immediately to safeguard its strategic autonomy in the emerging era of informationalised warfare

A recent seminar on cyberspace stability in Shanghai showed a global preoccupation by nations to acquire capabilities and devise protective mechanisms against attacks. A reflection on two themes emerging from the discussions

Digital black markets, which have always lurked in an opaque world, have now become hubs of illegal activity, selling prohibited goods with ingenious anonymity and resilience. India must sharpen its cybersecurity strategy for this new threat

India has rapidly transitioned from a cash-based economy to one reliant on digital payment systems. This has resulted in financial inclusion and greater transparency, but also expanded the system’s vulnerability to cybercrimes. This paper analyses India’s digital payments industry, maps the potential threat vectors and recommends measures to strengthen the cybersecurity of digital payment systems