New-age Sentinels

In a world of escalating digitalisation, international interconnectedness, and complex geopolitical processes, business corporations have become important partners in national security. They have gone beyond traditional economic functions to take an active role in ensuring the integrity, sovereignty, and resilience of the nation.

Cybersecurity, previously the prerogative of governments, has now become a shared frontier. Technology, financial services, telecom, and critical infrastructure companies are the first line of defence against sophisticated cyber-attacks. These attacks—tended to be by hostile nation-states and global cybercrime groups—employ malware, phishing, ransomware, and espionage to compromise digital ecosystems. India experienced more than 95 data theft attacks in the year 2024 alone, becoming the second most targeted country in the world. Cyber fraud losses were more than Rs 11,000 crore, with manufacturing contributing to nearly 30 per cent of ransomware attacks. Corporations, custodians of personal, financial, and strategic information, must invest in multi-layered defences, AI-based threat detection, red-teaming drills, and crisis response systems. A nation’s security perimeter now extends across cloud servers, endpoints, operational networks, and data centres—making business leaders indispensable to the modern security architecture.

The vulnerabilities of globalised supply chains have elevated corporate responsibility in resilience planning. India still imports more than 95 per cent of its semiconductors from Taiwan, China, South Korea, and other countries. Imports of these semiconductors in FY24 alone reached Rs 1.71 lakh crore. Such dependencies create risks from delays in logistics and price manipulation to embedded risks in critical components. Companies need to diversify sources among strategic partners and undertake re-shoring and nearshoring. Strategic plans like Make in India and the Semiconductor Mission are no longer industrial programmes in themselves—they are tools of national readiness. Blockchain-based traceability, real-time risk-mapping, and supplier transparency solutions are becoming a necessity. What used to be understood as supply efficiency is now a question of strategic survival.

Social media can be leveraged to market businesses and disrupt them simultaneously. These tools of engagement have turned into double-edged swords. Social media serves as a powerful enabler of business engagement, yet simultaneously functions as a volatile arena for the spread of misinformation. Recent statistics reveal that more than 77 per cent of misleading or false news in India has its origins on social platforms. There needs to be a robust framework for accountability in digital account usage. A clear mechanism should be established wherein all social media accounts are mandatorily registered—preferably through verified identity protocols such as KYC—with a limit of one account per individual. This will enable traceability in cases where users engage in the dissemination of misinformation or attempt to malign individuals or institutions. The potential for reputational harm, both at a personal and organisational level necessitates the urgent implementation of such a system. Public-private frameworks of digital monitoring, platform responsibility laws, and ethically-oriented AI content moderation should be even better fortified. Securing social media integrity is now crucial in securing the nation’s sovereignty.

Social media can be leveraged to market businesses and disrupt them simultaneously. These tools of engagement have turned into double-edged swords. It is, thus, vital for the government to enhance its swift vigilance, develop threat identification protocols further, and invest in preventive measures to debilitate such challenges. With the burgeoning artificial intelligence pervading the management of enterprise, logistics, and surveillance, data control and ethical algorithming have become supremely essential. The ownership of data, along with its application, has arisen as the very crucial deciding factor for strategic independence. Firms that work across borders have to balance global platforms with Indian compliance norms. Ensuring algorithmic accountability, the removal of discriminatory results, and the creation of AI systems that work within an open, lawful, and ethical framework are no longer choices. They are necessary national expectations. Data created in India should be kept within Indian jurisdiction, and this should encourage regulatory evolution that maintains security without suppressing innovation.

Simultaneously, the rules of engagement in global conflict have changed. Modern warfare is no longer the primary threat. Neutralising and dismantling economies through coercive trade practices, targeted sanctions, or digital disruption is the new form of aggression. These actions often remain undeclared and operate beneath conventional thresholds, yet the damage they inflict is profound and enduring. India, like all rising powers, must take forward-looking steps to neutralise such threats. Enhancing domestic industrial capabilities, shielding the financial system, protecting digital trade corridors, and creating redundancy in high-risk industries should be given top priority. Government intervention should support corporate vision, promoting scenario planning and strategic hedging against economic aggression. Just as countries harden physical infrastructure against kinetic attacks, their economic architecture needs to be hardened against engineered shocks.

Public-private partnerships have become a necessity in bridging the capability gap between innovation and national defence. India’s technology companies are working closely with defence and intelligence bureaus across fields from secure communications via satellite and autonomous systems to cyber threat protection and orbital observation. These ventures are dual-use technologies in co-creation, speeding up indigenous capability and trust-building between institutions. Co-sponsored R&D parks, security sandbox environments, and national clusters of innovation are coupling commercial drive with national aspiration. This harmony not only facilitates faster technology uptake but communicates that the nation’s defence is a shared responsibility. It conveys a forceful message—that India’s business community is not a spectator, but a shield-bearer.

Of equal importance is the role of industry in safeguarding strategic infrastructure. Industries like energy, aviation, healthcare, finance, and telecommunications are the veins of contemporary civilisation. Any disruption—whether through cyberattack or concerted sabotage—has the potential to unleash cascading effects, undermining public order and national stability. Increased integration of IT and operational technologies has amplified this vulnerability. Businesses operating these systems now have to work under a zero-trust security ethos, with a focus on proactive detection, incident simulation, and ongoing education. Engagement with national CERTs and adherence to dynamic regulatory advisories has to be best practice. Government agencies, on their part, will have to facilitate this initiative with live threat intelligence, situational awareness initiatives, and holistic contingency planning.

In this new security environment, the chasm between corporate strategy and national defence is slowly narrowing. Corporate leaders are required to redefine their mandates—not as just the sources of innovation and growth but as fellow architects of national integrity. Security can no longer be viewed as a regulatory overhead or a cost centre but as a value-creating strategic lever. This is the new frontier—where corporate integrity and national integrity meet. In this framework, India’s true strength will not be defined in terms of technological resources or GDP rates, but by the vision, preparedness, and ethical commitment of its corporate world.

The writer is President, ITC Corporate Affairs. Views expressed are personal. Views expressed are personal