BrahMos espionage: Organisations must focus on sensitisation, vigilance and ethics

The arrest of a BrahMos Aerospace scientist for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistan’s ISI reveals another dimension of our national security challenges. The scientist, Nishant Aggarwal, in his twenties, was a trailblazer leading a 40-member team at the company, and a winner of the government’s Young Scientist Award.

News reports indicate that the arrest of a BSF jawan who was trapped by ISI on social media led to the scientist’s trail. Recent years have seen quite a few instances of social media being used by ISI to honeytrap officers at various levels in the defence establishment, but this one is by far the most serious. Sensitisation of government employees to these threats is important, as is vigilance by organisations themselves.

While it is a breakthrough for the intelligence and investigating agencies, it is important that the probe leads to a strong chargesheet. The memory of the harm posed by the Isro “spy” scandal in which Kerala Police arrested three Isro scientists on a flight of fantasy and wrecked India’s cryogenic technology programme is fresh in memory.

India’s defence secrets have great value for governments and even for companies that see a market for themselves here. Safeguarding them in a hyper-networked world is going to be tougher than ever before. Those holding sensitive responsibilities must be extremely careful about their social media interactions. Cyberwarfare is the name of the game these days, and social media has given ISI a new opening into India whereby it can exploit personal weaknesses. Alongside sensitisation and vigilance, organisations must also emphasise on ethical conduct. That is the best defence against our internal threats.

Read Story: BrahMos engineer arrested for leaking missile info to ISI