India and Russia can explore practical cooperation in cybersecurity

Time of India

17-05-2025

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India's digital transformation is moving in a direction very similar to what is visible in Russia – with rapid growth in fintech, digital government services, e-commerce, and smart city infrastructure. That kind of progress demands strong cybersecurity. India is not just as a partner, but as a key player in shaping the future of global cybersecurity and digital architecture, Yury Maksimov , Co-founder of Cyberus , international cybersecurity development foundation told ET's Dipanjan Roy ChaudhuryIndia's digital transformation is moving in a direction very similar to what we see in Russia – with rapid growth in fintech, digital government services, e-commerce, and smart city infrastructure. That kind of progress demands strong cybersecurity.Over the last three years, we've learned the hard way how to protect critical systems, measure and strengthen resilience, and quickly train the specialists needed to meet growing demand. It's hard-earned knowledge – and we're ready to share it with your experts to help make India's digital transformation more secure and sustainable.Russia is also developing a system to objectively measure cybersecurity – across companies, entire regions, and national infrastructure. We'd be glad to see Indian companies and experts join us in co-creating and implementing this system.At Cyberus, we've united dozens of IT and cybersecurity companies – working not only to protect our own country, but also to join forces with partners in building a secure digital future.We're already collaborating with 40 countries, and we're especially eager to deepen our cooperation with India. We see India not just as a partner, but as a key player in shaping the future of global cybersecurity and digital architecture.Our long-standing friendship is proof that we can achieve great things together – not just in industrialisation, but in the digital world as well.Cybersecurity today is significantly lagging behind the pace of digitalisation. It's particulalrly evident in countries like India, where rapid digital transformation of governance, commerce, and society has made it both a global leader and a target for cyberattacks.But this lag is only part of the problem. The bigger issue is how we're going about digitalisation itself. The way our digital world is built today simply can not guarantee security.Centralised digital architecture – where IT-companies have full control and the power to change users' systems anytime – can't be secure by design. In fact, that's often how hackers break in: by taking advantage of these central points of control.So we're really facing two big challenges: first, trying to improve cybersecurity within the limits of today's system. And second, planning for a better digital architecture, one that puts user security and sovereignty at the center, from the start.The only real way to solve both challenges is through global cooperation. The digital world has no borders. And that means securing it is not something any country can do alone.To tackle the first challenge, we need to move away from checkbox mentality in cybersecurity, where decisions are made just to meet formal requirements. Instead, we need to learn how to measure the security of a country's critical information infrastructure.Today, most organisations only discover their vulnerabilities after they've been hacked. But there's a better way: continuous testing by skilled cybersecurity teams – simulating real attacks, exposing weak points, and closing them before attackers get in.Russia has made real progress in assessing our security before incidents happen: using white-hat ethical hackers, big data analytics, and AI to predict vulnerabilities and estimate potential damage. This approach moves us from compliance to true risk management and strengthens how we build security. And we're ready to share this experience with our colleagues in India.It might sound like a contradiction, but it's not: true digital sovereignty requires cooperation.The old model of sovereignty meant building everything yourself behind digital walls. But that approach doesn't scale – it's expensive, slow, and often replaces one dependency with another.Our vision is different. It's about creating a modular, decentralised, and trusted digital architecture, where any component can be replaced, but the system as a whole keeps running. It's not about copying existing ecosystems, it's about co-creating something new through global cooperation, grounded in fair, shared rules that define how we live, work, and connect in the digital world.Common standards remove the need for every country to build a full tech stack from scratch. Instead, components from different countries – Russia, India, South Africa , others – can be combined into a secure, functioning system. If one part becomes unavailable for any reason, it can be easily replaced.To make this work, we need a coalition of countries willing to co-create this architecture – based on trust, transparency, and fairness. Not domination. This isn't just a technical challenge – it's a political and ethical one.It also requires a mindset shift: moving beyond short-term wins, and thinking long-term about a future that benefits everyone. If we get it right, we'll lay the foundation for a truly secure, multipolar digital world.