Recently formulated 'joint doctrine for cyberspace operations' by Indian armed forces will lead to strengthening of the cyber-security posture for both conventional operations as well as gray zone warfare. Examine.

Cyberspace has become the 5th dimension of warfare utilizing the digital technology to disrupt the functioning of enemy nation. Joint doctrine for cyberspace operations by Armed forces will help is: i) Utilise the new technologies to counter cyber threats. ii) Formulation of Special cyberforce for cyber attacks by the enemy nation. iii) Protection of critical infrastructure and classified information from cyber attacks. iv) Enhanced capabilities in case of cyber war. Conventional cyber war by the enemy state to disrupt the economy and functioning of the country. Gray zone warfare - activities short of full fledged warfare to disrupt the

activities of the country. (i) Use of virus tunnel by OSA to disrupt the cyber nuclear technology of Iran. The doctrine will complement the existing infrastructure for cybersecurity: i) Legal: IT Act 2000, BNS. ii) Agencies - Cert-in, Multi-agency coordination center (MAC). iii) NCIPC - National Critical Infrastructure Protection center. iv) Tools such as - malware removal bots. Indian army can also use counter-offensive to disrupt enemy infrastructure. It follows the quote - 'New age war will not be fought on the battle field but in the clouds'. The emergence of new technologies such as quantum tech, Artificial Intelligence, ML, cloud computing and supercomputer make the threats of cyberwar even more real. The joint doctrine of Indian Army will help in this regard.