MHA to expedite commissioning cyber forensic cum training laboratories across India

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has initiated steps for commissioning cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories across India after a Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs has found that the absence of such laboratories has been hampering India's fight against cybercrime. To date, such laboratories have been commissioned in 18 states and UTs which is only 50 per cent of the total states in India.

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has initiated steps for commissioning cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories across India after a Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs has found that the absence of such laboratories has been hampering India's fight against cybercrime. To date, such laboratories have been commissioned in 18 states and UTs which is only 50 per cent of the total states in India.

Cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been set up in states like Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh among others. The Home Ministry to date has provided grants of Rs 96.13 crore to all states and UTs under the cyber crime prevention against women and children (CCPWC) scheme to set up cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories.

More than 15,500 police personnel, judicial officers, and prosecutors have been provided training in cybercrime awareness, investigation, forensics etc. The development assumes significance at a time when states across India have been registering a huge number of cybercrime cases. Home Ministry statistics available with ETV Bharat said that 93,590 cases of cybercrime were reported in the country between 2017 and 2019. As many as 46 cases of cyber terrorism have been reported in the country during the same period.

The Parliamentary committee headed by Rajya Sabah MP Anand Sharma also suggested the need to periodically upgrade Joint Cybercrime Coordination Teams (JCCT) in view of the advancement of technology and various types of newly-emerging cybercrime. Following the fact that cybercrimes transcend geographical boundaries, the committee recommends the Ministry of Home Affairs to take up the issue with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to develop an understanding to sign pacts with different countries, especially with those countries that are linked with maximum cases of cybercrime.

Significantly, under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) scheme, the Home Ministry is constantly engaged through external affairs ministry at various multilateral forums like BRICS, SCO, EU and with various agencies like cybercrime coordination centre of USA, Interpol etc. The committee suggested that to facilitate easier and immediate reporting of complaints, one-stop centres (OSC), central government-run helpline number 112 (ERSS) and State helpline numbers should also include cyber-related crimes against women and children under their ambit and to provide immediate psycho-social support. In an advisory sent to the States and UTs recently, the MHA has asked States and UTs to adequately create awareness on the prevention of cybercrime.

However, aware of the fact that virtual private network (VPN) services and Dark Web can bypass cyber security walls and allow criminals to remain anonymous online, the committee recommends MHA to coordinate with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to identify and permanently block such VPNs with the help of internet service providers.