The National Cyber Security Strategy 2020 is awaiting Cabinet approval and is expected to be released next month, National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen Rajesh Pant said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15 had announced that a new cyber security strategy will be presented to the nation as dependence on cyberspace is will increase multifold in coming years.

"I am hoping that the month of October, which is regarded globally as the 'National Cybersecurity Awareness Month', we have a lot of awareness programs in that month and I am hoping that one of the programs would be release of the national strategy," Pant said at ASSOCHAM CySecCon 2020. He said inter-ministerial deliberations are over and approval by the Union Cabinet is awaited for the National Cyber Security Strategy 2020 (NCSS 2020).

Talking about data privacy and security, Pant said the personal data protection bill is being discussed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and "there are lot of issues being discussed in that".

"I am very hopeful that it will be introduced in the Monsoon Session, otherwise definitely in the Winter Session of the Parliament," Pant said.

Speaking on the report alleging that a China-based company is harvesting personal data of 24 lakh people, including Australians, Americans and Indians, Pant said, "So this is a very dangerous trend that has to be curtailed, that is why 2020 is going to be the decade of digital trust." International collaboration is very important in terms of cyber security, he added.