Government plans Rs 500-crore coordination centre to deal with cyber crime

NEW DELHI: An expert group has proposed a new Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre at cost of Rs 500 crore, which would be linked to NATGRID and CCTNS and branches in states, to tackle cyber crime and to amend existing laws regarding evidence and cyber crime to bring them in tune with the present environment.

An expert group constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs last December submitted its report on "Roadmap for Effectively Tackling Cyber Crimes in the Country" to the Home Minister on Tuesday after examining the global practices on cyber crime prevention. The new center will check attempts of international gangs to penetrate Indian government official communication network while an advance application for Social Media Analytics may also come up to monitor social media platforms activities related to Ministries of Home, External Affairs, Defence and other government organisations.

The committee also suggested to the government to reduce dependence on foreign servers and ensure one dedicated secure gateway for all government communication. They have proposed a separate agency for online cyber crime registration, monitoring and integration of CCTNS data with the same, especially in light of NCRB data showing a 50% increase in cyber crimes across India.

The expert group has also asked for changes in the Evidence Act as per the changing environment to prosecute cyber crimes, a public awareness campaign, states to be sensitised through advisories and setting up of cyber forensic laboratories in states along with workshops and international cooperation in the field, officials said.

During a presentation given on the report to the Home Minister on Tuesday, Rajnath Singh extensively dwelled on the criminal and other activities on the internet which directly impacted on the general public particularly women and children and the establishment of appropriate infrastructure to redress such grievances in convenient and time bound manner.