Public sector mining major NMDC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to strengthen its cybersecurity posture and benchmark its Security Operations Centre (SOC) against global best practices. The collaboration aims to bolster NMDC’s digital resilience at a time when critical infrastructure sectors across India are increasingly targeted by sophisticated cyberattacks.
Under the agreement, IIT Kanpur will support NMDC in conducting a comprehensive cybersecurity risk assessment, evaluating vulnerabilities across operational systems, enterprise networks, and mission-critical digital assets. The partnership will also include SOC capability benchmarking, enabling NMDC to assess its detection and response readiness in comparison with leading global standards.
With NMDC expanding digital adoption across mining operations—ranging from automated systems to data-driven decision-making—the initiative is positioned as an essential step towards safeguarding sensitive information and ensuring business continuity. According to officials, the assessment will cover threat modelling, incident response planning, and evaluation of existing controls to identify improvement opportunities. IIT Kanpur’s Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity will provide domain expertise, tools, and methodologies tailored for industrial environments.
The collaboration reflects a broader trend among Indian PSUs to strengthen cyber governance amid rising threats to national infrastructure. Enhanced SOC maturity is expected to help NMDC reduce response times, mitigate financial losses, and improve compliance with evolving cybersecurity directives.
Industry experts note that partnerships between academia and industry are becoming critical for bridging skill gaps and accelerating adoption of advanced cybersecurity frameworks. NMDC’s initiative is seen as a proactive measure that positions it as a leader in cyber-secure mining operations.
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