Ajit Doval, the national security adviser, attended the Friends of BRICS gathering in Johannesburg, where the topic of cybersecurity was extensively discussed. Other Friends of BRICS nations that took part in the event included Belarus, Burundi, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Cuba in addition to the BRICS.

Doval emphasized the necessity for group efforts to address the problems arising from cybersecurity.

“The Global South in particular needs to overcome limitations of resources. In this regard, India will always remain at the forefront and work closely with the Global South,” he said.

They claimed that NSA Doval stressed the fact that as disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things become more widely used, the severity of cyber dangers will rapidly increase.

According to the sources, he also underlined the connections between cybercriminals and terrorists, highlighting how they utilize the internet for recruitment, secured communications, radicalization, fundraising, and money laundering, among other things.

“The younger population was particularly vulnerable to the spread of extremist ideologies via social media sites as they are technology savvy and have impressionable minds,” he noted.

The NSA also held several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS and Friends of BRICS countries.

The original acronym "BRIC" (or "the BRICs") was coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill to describe fast-growing economies that would collectively dominate the global economy by 2050.

Image source: The Print