Abstract

Cyber terrorism has become a serious threat to national security in the increasingly linked digital world, especially countries like India. The growing threat of cyberterrorism to India's digital infrastructure, particularly delicate sectors like communication networks, power grids, military networks, and banking systems, is the main topic of this study. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which increase intermediaries' accountability; the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which is a major step toward comprehensive data privacy legislation; and the specific guidelines published by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to handle cybersecurity threats and incident reporting are just a few of the recent legal developments in India that will be examined in this paper with regard to digital governance and data protection. This study is going to examine the growing trend of cyberterrorism and its consequences for India's national security. The study in this paper shows that cyber breaches and possible terrorist threats have alarmingly increased in India's digital infrastructure. The research will follow a doctrinal legal research methodology. The research highlights three major obstacles to mitigating cyber threats: lack of real-time threat detection technologies, lack of effective legal deterrence, and lack of inter -agency collaboration. Although India has made great strides in putting cybersecurity procedures in place, the paper will come to the conclusion that it urgently needs to develop a single national cyberterrorism policy, boost funding for cyber intelligence infrastructure, and fortify international cyber diplomacy. India can only successfully protect its national security against the growing threat of cyberterrorism by combining intergovernmental cooperation, technological innovation, and legal reform.

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