Governance · Sub-pillar 3.3

National and cyber security

Secure borders, freedom from terrorism and insurgency, and protection of the power grids, payment systems and networks on which daily life depends.

What is national and cyber security?

National and cyber security is sub-pillar 3.3 of the 47 BH framework for a developed Bharat by 2047, the third of seven sub-pillars under the Governance pillar. It asks whether India's borders are secure, whether its people are free from terrorism and insurgency, and whether the power grids, payment systems and networks on which daily life depends are protected.

Why it matters for 2047

Everything else in the framework rests on a country that is secure. Schools, hospitals, markets and courts work only where the state holds the ground and people are not afraid. A district under insurgency or a border region under threat cannot develop on the same terms as the rest of the country.

The nature of security has changed. A nation that runs its payments, its power and its records on networks can be hurt without a shot being fired. A successful attack on a grid, a bank or a hospital system would reach more Indians in an hour than most conventional threats could in a year.

47 BH treats this sub-pillar as a matter of institutional capacity and outcomes, not of any government's record: how many lives are lost to violence, how many districts are affected, how quickly systems recover when attacked.

Where India stands

  • 234

    incidents of Left Wing Extremist violence were recorded in 2025, with 64 civilians and 36 security personnel killed, down from 375 incidents and 151 deaths in 2024; no district has been categorised as LWE-affected since March 2026.[1]

  • 13th

    of 163 countries was India's position on the Global Terrorism Index 2026 (score 6.428), an index of the impact of terrorism compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace; Pakistan ranked first.[2]

  • 29.44 lakh

    cyber security incidents were handled by CERT-In, India's national incident response agency, in 2025, alongside 1,530 alerts and 65 advisories.[3]

  • Rs 55,050 cr

    was the total reported lost to cyber financial fraud on the national cybercrime portal between 2021 and 2025, across more than 65.89 lakh complaints; over Rs 11,158 crore had been saved by freezing funds by June 2026.[4]

Internal security has improved markedly on the longest-running front. Districts affected by Left Wing Extremism fell from 126 in 2018 to 38 in 2024, 8 in December 2025 and none by March 2026, and deaths from Maoist violence fell from 151 in 2024 to 100 in 2025. [1] Terrorism continues to take lives, and India remains in the top fifteen of the Global Terrorism Index, which measures the scale of attacks and deaths rather than the strength of the response. [2]

Cyber security is the fastest-growing front. CERT-In handled close to three million incidents in 2025, and financial fraud through phones and payment apps has cost Indians more than Rs 55,000 crore in five years, of which about a fifth has been recovered or frozen. [3][4] These attacks fall on individuals, banks and public services at once, which is why 47 BH treats protection of networks as national security.

A note on the numbers: the extremism figures are Ministry of Home Affairs data given to Parliament; the terrorism index is compiled by a non-governmental institute from open sources; CERT-In counts incidents reported to it, which rise as reporting improves; fraud losses are what victims reported, and are an undercount.

On the 47 BH report card

Every 15 August, 47 BH reports how far India has come on each sub-pillar. For this sub-pillar, the headline indicators are:

  • Deaths from terrorism and insurgency per year, and districts affected (Ministry of Home Affairs; Global Terrorism Index).
  • Cyber security incidents handled, and major incidents affecting critical services (CERT-In).
  • Money lost to cyber financial fraud and share recovered (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre).

Two lenses on national and cyber security

City and village

47 BH asks whether a family in a border village or a once-insurgent district can live and trade as freely as one in a metro, and whether an elderly person in a town is as protected from a scam call as a banker in a city. The front lines of insurgency were rural; the front lines of cyber crime are everywhere a phone is.

Learn, avoid, protect

Learn
What can India learn from countries that built resilient grids and payment systems with tested recovery plans, that treat cyber hygiene as a public health campaign, and that resolved insurgencies through development as much as force?
Avoid
Which mistakes should it avoid, such as treating security only as a matter for the armed and police forces, or securing systems after an attack rather than before?
Protect
What of its own should it protect, such as the professionalism of its armed forces and civil administration, its tradition of civilian control, and the public digital infrastructure that has become the envy of many countries?

What this sub-pillar does not cover

Each topic has one home in the framework. These related topics sit elsewhere:

Questions about national and cyber security

Is Left Wing Extremism still a threat in India?

It has receded sharply. The Ministry of Home Affairs told Parliament in July 2026 that incidents of Maoist violence fell from 375 in 2024 to 234 in 2025, deaths from 151 to 100, and that no district has been categorised as LWE-affected since March 2026, down from 126 districts in 2018. [1]

Where does India stand on the Global Terrorism Index?

India was 13th of 163 countries on the Global Terrorism Index 2026 with a score of 6.428, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The index measures the impact of terrorism (incidents, deaths, injuries and hostages), so a lower rank is better. [2]

How many cyber attacks does India face?

CERT-In handled 29.44 lakh cyber security incidents in 2025, according to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. [3]

How much do Indians lose to cyber fraud?

More than Rs 55,050 crore was reported lost across over 65.89 lakh complaints on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal between 2021 and 2025, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs; over Rs 11,158 crore had been saved by freezing funds by 30 June 2026. [4]

Why does 47 BH put cyber security with national security?

Because an attack on a grid, a payment system or a hospital network can harm more people than a conventional attack, and defending them is a national task, not only a technical one.

Sources

  1. Ministry of Home Affairs, "Status of Naxalism in the Country", Rajya Sabha written reply, Press Information Bureau, 29 July 2026. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2291043&reg=48&lang=2
  2. Institute for Economics and Peace, "Global Terrorism Index 2026", March 2026; India's rank and score as reported by Drishti IAS, 25 March 2026. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/global-terrorism-index/
  3. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, "CERT-In: India's Frontline Defender against Cyber Threats", Press Information Bureau, 23 January 2026. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2217537&reg=48&lang=2
  4. Ministry of Home Affairs, "National Cyber Crime Data", Rajya Sabha written reply, Press Information Bureau, 21 July 2026. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2287039&reg=48&lang=2

47 BH cites every figure so that it can be checked. If you find an error, it will be corrected openly and the date below will change.

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