As Indias networked environment opens and expands, opportunities for
hackers will proliferate. According to one journal:

    India is just stepping into wide-area business apps, and security
    issues are not yet significant. When they do become so, the
    hacker will reign supreme. With computer-illiterate police forces,
    and often network-illiterate computer vendors, India would be a
    hackers dream, the equivalent of unmanned banks with open
    cash safes and welcome signs..." 

This danger was seen in the recent MilW0rm hack into Indias Bhabha
Atomic Research Center, in which hackers attacked the Indian nuclear
program's servers to protest the nation's nuclear tests. The hackers
claimed to have downloaded several thousand pages of research papers
and e-mail in the weeks immediately surrounding India's May 1998
weapons testing. The hackers also claimed to have erased data on two of
the six servers at the facility.

As it is in many other countries, the networked environment in India is
changing rapidly. The Indian government has designated progress in the
field of Information Technology a national priority and the
implementation of recent proposals will accelerate advancements that
are already underway. These changes will present both opportunities and
challenges for foreign governments and businesses conducting official
and commercial relations in India. The maturation of Indias networked
environment will, on the one hand, facilitate trade and contribute to
Indias attractiveness as an emerging global market. At the same time
however, and especially if network security does not keep pace with
technological changes, the security of business and foreign government
transmissions in and out of India may be difficult to guarantee.