International law not adequate to check terror cyberattacks: India (Deccan Herald, 1 March 2017)
Addressing a Security Council debate on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security caused by terrorist acts: Protection of Critical Infrastructure’, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said big urban centres like Mumbai, New York and London have become targets as impact on cities serving as financial hubs affect the economy of the country in multiple ways. Citing the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Akbaruddin said that financial hubs are targeted by terrorists to impact a country’s economy. “The investigations into the heinous terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 revealed the impact its perpetrators wanted to have on the psyche and economy of the whole of India. “These attacks, including on a hospital, railway station and hotels were carefully planned and crafted from beyond our borders to have crippling effects not only on daily life in a bustling metropolis but targeted a country of a billion people”. He lamented the lack of adequate international law to deal with the threat of cyber-attacks, adding that despite years of concern, states have addressed few international instruments addressing issues of threats from cyberspace.