| Defence Cyber Agency | |
|---|---|
 Insignia of theDefence Cyber Agency | |
| Active | Established: 28 September 2018 Activated:November 2019 Operational:August 2021 |
| Country |  India |
| Type | Integrated tri-services agency |
| Role | Cyber Warfare |
| Part of | Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
| Nickname | DCyA |
| Motto | sevahāyate tu hanti duṣkṛtām |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Rear Admiral Sanjay Sachdeva |
TheDefence Cyber Agency (DCyA) is anintegrated tri-services agency of theIndian Armed Forces. Headquartered inNew Delhi, the agency is tasked with handlingcyber security threats. The DCyA draws personnel from all three branches of the Armed Forces. The head of the DCyA is an officer oftwo-star rank, and reports to theChief of Defence Staff (CDS) through theIntegrated Defence Staff (IDS).[1]
Indian NavyRear Admiral Mohit Gupta was appointed in May 2019 as the first head of the DCyA.[2] The DCyA was expected to be operational by November 2019.[3] As of 2021, DCyA was fully operational with Army,Air Force, and Navy establishing their respective Cyber Emergency Response Teams (CERT).[4]
The Naresh Chandra Task Force was set up in July 2011 byNational Security AdvisorShivshankar Menon to review the recommendations of theKargil Review Committee, assess the implementation progress, and suggest new reforms related to national security.[5][6] The task force was led byNaresh Chandra, a retiredIndian Administrative Service officer, and comprised 13 other members, includingGopalaswami Parthasarathy, Air Chief MarshalSrinivasapuram Krishnaswamy (retired), AdmiralArun Prakash (retired), Lieutenant GeneralV. R. Raghavan (retired),Anil Kakodkar,K. C. Verma, andV. K. Duggal. The committee conducted the first holistic review of national security since the Kargil Review Committee and submitted its classified report to Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on 23 May 2012.[7] Among its recommendations, the Task Force recommended the creation of a cyber command (DCyA), an aerospace command and a special operations command. All three units were proposed to be tri-service commands in order to bring the various special forces units of the military under a unified command and control structure.[8][9]
The creation of the Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA), theDefence Space Agency (DSA), and theArmed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) was approved by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi during the Combined Commanders' Conference atJodhpur Air Force Station on 28 September 2018.[10] The existing Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency was upgraded to form the new Defence Cyber Agency.[3]
On 7 August 2025, theChief of Defence StaffGeneralAnil Chauhan and Secretary of Department of Military Affairs released the "Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations" and "Joint Doctrine for Amphibious Operations" during the Chiefs of Staff Committee meeting in New Delhi. While the former aims to defend national cyberspace interests through integrated offensive-defensive capabilities, real-time intelligence and joint cyber force development, the latter is meant to enable coordinated maritime-air-land operations for power projection ashore through interoperability, rapid response and joint force application.[11][12]
The Week reported that the DCyA would have the capability to hack into networks, mount surveillance operations, layhoneypots, recover deleted data from hard drives and cellphones, break intoencrypted communication channels, and perform other complex objectives.[13] According to Lieutenant GeneralDeependra Singh Hooda, the DCyA would have the responsibility of framing a long-term policy for the security of military networks, including eliminating the use of foreign hardware and software in the Indian Armed Forces, and preparing acyberwarfare doctrine.[14]
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