Nepal's Digital Ambition: A Nation Unprepared for the Cyber Threats of Tomorrow
The nature of warfare is changing. While traditional conflicts still dominate headlines, a silent, pervasive battle rages in the digital realm, capable of crippling nations without a single shot fired. For a country like Nepal, ambitious in its pursuit of digitalization, this unseen war poses an existential threat. Bijay Limbu Senihang, a cybersecurity entrepreneur at the forefront of AI and national security, warns that Nepal is dangerously unprepared, its digital future built upon a foundation of vulnerability and outdated foresight.
The Accelerating Threat: When Technology Outpaces Policy
The digital landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, driven largely by the rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence. What was once confined to text generation has exploded into audio, video, and sophisticated AI agents, capable of complex interactions. This innovation, while promising, creates a unique challenge for cybersecurity: data flows are more intricate, attack vectors are harder to identify, and malicious payloads can now be disguised as innocuous text. As Senihang points out, "Before, traditionally, all attack payloads were some sort of malicious intended codes... Now, it's all text." This shift necessitates "secure by design, secure by default" principles for any AI product, a concept often overlooked.
The core problem, globally, is that technology consistently outpaces policy. However, in cybersecurity, this lag is catastrophic. AI-assisted tools can now help anyone create malware or exploit zero-day vulnerabilities, expediting attacks to an unimaginable degree. While governments and regulatory bodies struggle to keep up, often taking months to study and draft legislation, new threats emerge within weeks. Senihang highlights that even a three-month gap in policy can see an entire new generation of AI capabilities emerge, rendering previous regulations obsolete before they are even enacted. This makes cybersecurity not a luxury, but a basic, urgent need.
A Digital Foundation Built on Vulnerability
Nepal’s journey towards digitalization, supported by international loans, is proceeding without a robust cybersecurity framework in place. Senihang identifies this as the most concerning aspect of the nation’s digital future. For over a decade, discussions about a dedicated cybersecurity law have yielded nothing. The existing Electronic Transaction Act, while relevant for digital commerce, completely fails to address modern threats like ransomware, advanced scams, or AI-driven attacks.
The absence of a national cybersecurity authority is another critical void. Should Nepal's critical infrastructure, from government systems to essential services, come under cyberattack, there is no single body with the authority or mandate to respond. The National Cyber Security Center, established by cabinet decision, lacks the power to regulate or intervene across
