Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday warned the Army against ‘information blackout’, stating that the next wars might be fought in cyberscape.
Using the terror organisation ISIS as an example, he said that it was “one of the best user of internet technology” for promoting their cause.
The Defence Minister was addressing the DEFCOM seminar organised by the Corps of Signal of the Indian Army and the CII.
He said, “The world that we as a nation will be interacting with is increasingly fraught with turbulence and will call for dominant military might. We need to develop technology and system appropriate to evolving military doctrine.”
He said that Information Technology (IT) has an important role to play because “future wars may be cyber wars”.
However, Parrikar said boots on the ground cannot be replaced.
“Ultimately conventional armies cannot be replaced but they can be equipped with equipment which will provide them with all the information to fight with a well decided and well planned way without getting interrupted.”
Speaking on how ISIS uses technology for its recruitment, he said, “One can take the example of terrorist organisations like Daish or ISIS. They use the internet to ensure a lot of recruitment or support, and they are one of the best users of internet technology for promoting their cause.”
“Because of Information Technology, you can get so much information that getting vital information out of that becomes something like finding a needle in a haystack,” the minister said.
Parrikar said that there was a need to make a more digitised army to prevent the danger of cyber-attacks.
“We need to enhance our capabilities to ensure that they are protected from such disruptive cyber-attacks or cyber manipulations,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)