Pukhraj Singh

Cyber geostrategy and cyber international relations

Since a decade, I have carried the alter ego of a ‘cyber geostrategist’ (for the lack of a better term). I am a cyber threat detection engineer with two decades of experience. I run a cybersecurity operations centre in the day and transform into a geopolitical wonk at night.

I am a computer science graduate with a master’s degree in cyber geostrategy (with Distinction) from UNSW Canberra, at the Australian Defence Force Academy. I am formally trained in cyber threat intelligence, detection engineering, malware analysis, cybersecurity operations, Australian defence policy, Indo-Pacific multilateralism, national security strategy, military doctrine, information operations and strategic communication. This unique combination of skills imparts me with a different worldview.

After the 26/11 terror attacks of 2008, I became the first ‘lateral entrant’ to be inducted from the private sector into the Indian signals intelligence agency NTRO under the Prime Minister’s Office.

I was the counterintelligence leader for a nascent Indian cyber defence division investigating GhostNet, the sweeping Chinese cyber espionage operation discovered in 2008. This was long before such Chinese activity attracted mainstream attention. I was also the incident commander assessing Stuxnet’s impact on India in 2010, an effort which led to the creation of the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre. At NTRO, my output was consumed by the highest offices and influenced the bilateral dialogues between Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Hu Jintao.

While I left NTRO in 2013, I tipped off the Indian government on the intrusions into the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2019. The massive intrusion at ISRO coincided with the crash of the lunar mission Chandrayaan II, which left me searching for answers.

From 2009 onwards, I have witnessed first-hand the role which cyber operations play in shaping the world order. Since then, I have mostly been an autodidact when it comes to gaining an interdisciplinary knowledge of cyber policy.

My byline made its way to all the national Indian broadsheets like the Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Tribune, Deccan Herald, Outlook and many others. I trained senior Indian military commanders, participated in Track II diplomatic dialogues on cyber policy and advised the Indian government on its draft ‘cyber doctrine’. I have been published by the Australian Defence College, Australian Strategic Policy Institute and US Military Academy. And I have spoken at Black Hat and other international conferences on topics bridging cyber threat intelligence and geostrategy.

In 2021, I, my partner and our son moved to Brisbane, Australia, under the Distinguished Talent program. I have made steady inroads into the Australian discourse. I have participated in national cyber crisis management exercises, information exchanges and capacity building initiatives of the Australian government.

My corporate work experience in cybersecurity spans global technology companies in Canada, India, Malaysia and Israel. I have also founded the Centre for Epistemic Security, an Australian think tank undertaking doctrinal and strategic research on informational, cognitive and grey-zone threats targeting liberal democracies.

In my past life, I was known as the founder of Abroo, a now-defunct socio-political initiative for the empowerment of the Dalits and marginalised of the Indian Punjab. I have anointed myself as an amateur poet and aficionado of Punjabi Sufi music.

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