Gujarat slotted for a cyber lab next

Cyber crime in India has been on an unchecked rise. The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) has been at the task of setting up cyber labs across every state in the country in a bid to help fight cyber crime. As per a Times of India report, Gujarat is slated to get one soon. The DSCI, a NASSCOM initiative, aims to aid state police forces to tackle instances of cyber crime by setting up such cyber labs. Eight such cyber labs are now operational across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The DSCI officials were at a cyber crime awareness workshop organised by DSCI, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, and Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU) at Gandhinagar on July 20 and 21, when they made the announcement. 

Cyber labs to help Gujarat tackle cyber crime (Image credit: Getty Images)

K Venkatesh Murthy, program manager, cyber cell, DSCI, was quoted by this report, "Since 2004, nearly 20,000 policemen from various centres have been trained under the initiative. Initially these were limited to major cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which were hubs of the IT and ITeS industry. However, in the last few years, cyber crime has spread its tentacles all around. We found it logical to become the backbone of the police investigation system". Murthy further added that these cyber labs are not the same as crime investigating teams. Not only will the men in khaki stay abreast on the latest trends and investigation tools, but also they will be trained on a regular basis, Murthy said. 

Further, a senior DSCI official was quoted as saying, "Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the initiative has been submitted to the central government. In the next phase, we will collaborate with state governments and police departments for its implementation. Where such a setup exists, we can help them upgrade or set up an alternative centre. These centres will have project managers and instructors who are well-acquainted with technology." 

Police personnel, reportedly will be given training in the basics of computer hardware, tracking emails and mobile phones, computer forensics and cyber laws.

With an increasing number of users now online, fears of becoming a victim of cybercrime are on a rise. A recent report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) "Crime in India 2011" pegs the number of cases registered under the nation's IT act last year at 1,791, a considerable rise of 85.4 percent from the 966 cases registered in 2010. The report states that the highest number of cases were registered in Andhra Pradesh (349), Maharashtra came second (306), followed by Kerala (227), Karnataka (155) and Rajasthan (122).

Also acting as an eye opener is a report by Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) and McAfee, according to which India comes fifth in cyber crime-affected nations in the world.