The Cyber Doctor’s 7-Day Series
Prescriptions for a Safer Digital Future
Welcome to Day 6 of 7 in my cybersecurity story series. Each piece in this journey has been personal, but this one is especially close to my heart.
Today, I’m taking you behind the scenes of national cybersecurity programs—where the mission isn’t just to secure an organization, but to safeguard a nation’s digital future.
Day 6: Defending Digital Borders
What It Meant to Build CERTs and National Cyber Resilience Programs
I still remember the sense of responsibility the first time I stepped into the advisory role for India’s national cybersecurity agency, CERT-In.
We weren’t drafting just another policy. We were building the nerve center for India’s cyber defense. The task wasn’t easy. It was new ground—untested, highly visible, and critical to the country’s readiness in an increasingly digital age.
A Mission That Went Beyond Technology
CERT-In was more than a project. It was a mission. We built it from scratch on a BOMT model (Build, Operate, Maintain, Transfer), through a public-private collaboration that shaped India’s long-term cyber resilience.
It involved:
- Designing the entire threat response architecture
- Creating playbooks for incident detection, classification, and containment
- Staffing and mentoring skilled analysts who would one day handle national-level incidents
- Establishing round-the-clock monitoring and cross-sector collaboration
But more than the frameworks and infrastructure, what we were building was trust in a national system that had never existed before.
From India to Africa: The Sovereignty Thread
Years later, I had the privilege to contribute to similar efforts with:
- GNPC (Ghana National Petroleum Corporation)
- Malawi CERT
The objectives varied—some focused-on energy, others on telecom—but the underlying theme was the same:
Give countries the power to defend themselves.
These programs weren’t just about implementing SIEMs or writing policies.
They were about helping nations stand on their own feet in the cyber battlefield—training local talent, creating incident response capability, and establishing digital independence.
A Moment I Carry with Me
During a workshop in Malawi, after a full day of simulations and drills, one of the junior analysts approached me and said:
“Before today, I thought cyber defence was something we had to outsource. Now I believe we can own it ourselves.”
That single sentence captured the real return on investment: empowerment.
Lessons from the Battlefield of Sovereignty
- Cybersecurity is a matter of national identity now—not just national defence
- A well-functioning CERT is not reactive. It’s a confidence layer for citizens, businesses, and governments
- Technology alone cannot secure a country—it takes capacity, continuity, and courage
- We don’t just build systems. We build people who will protect those systems
The Bigger Picture
In today’s world, wars don’t start with bullets—they often start with breaches.
From power grids to payment systems, the first wave of attack is almost always digital.
And that’s why building national resilience isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s non-negotiable.
Tomorrow, in the final chapter—Day 7—I’ll close this series with a reflection on what may be the most overlooked element in cyber defence: the human firewall. I’ll share how we built a global cyber awareness movement across students, parents, and professionals—and why security still begins with people.
Until then, thank you for reading.
And thank you for standing with those who protect, empower, and defend—not just systems, but sovereign digital futures.
Warm regards,
Dr. Lalit Gupta
The Cyber Doctor
www.cyberdoctorlalitgupta.com
he***@*******************ta.com
