New Delhi, April 18 : Amid massive rise in cyber attacks on government platforms, India on Monday began a ten-day long National Cyber Exercise to train senior government functionaries on contemporary cyber threats, handling cyber incidents and response. More than 140 officials would be trained through Live Fire and Strategic exercises from April 18 to April 29 during the National Cyber Security Incident Response Exercise (NCX India), National Security Council Secretariat said. The participants will be trained on various key cyber security areas such as Intrusion Detection Techniques, Malware Information Sharing Platform (MISP), Vulnerability Handling and Penetration Testing, Network Protocols and Data Flows, Digital Forensics, the Secretariat added. The NCX India will help strategic leaders to better understand cyber threats, assess readiness, and develop skills for cyber crisis management and cooperation. This will also help develop and test cybersecurity skills, teamwork, planning, comm cation, critical thinking, and decision-making. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in his keynote address highlighted the Digital Revolution taking place in the country and the launch of a large number of digital services by the government. He said that Cyber Security remains the foundation of any successful digital transformation. Any threats in cyberspace directly impacts our social, economic and National Security and therefore we need to safeguard our cyberspace, Doval said. Lt Gen Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator, brought out the importance of Indian cyberspace and the necessity of keeping it secure and safe for the citizens, businesses and governments. He talked about the increase in Ransomware and Supply Chain attacks taking place in the world and in our country and how it was very vital to achieve synergy amongst all organisations for effectively countering these attacks. He also highlighted the recent Ransomware attack on Oil India Limited and the importance of cyber warfare in the global scenario. The program is being conducted by the National Security Council Secretariat, in association with Data Security Council of India (DSCI) as the Knowledge Partner and supported by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). There has been a massive rise in the cyber attacks on Indian platforms. The number of incidents of cyber attacks on Indian government platforms has grown from 5461 incidents in 2016 to 48285 incidents in 2021, government informed Rajya Sabha in recently concluded Budget Session of Parliament. Government is taking various steps to build capacities and enhance skills in Cyber Security, the NSCS added. ASU RNJ