India has announced a plan to train a specialised wing of 5000 “Cyber Commandos” in the next five years, as part of its efforts to address cyber crime. The dedicated corps will be deployed by state and national governments and police organisations to counter cyber threats and assist in securing digital space, revealed India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
The division of cyber fighters was part of four major initiatives announced by home minister Amit Shah. Other plans include the establishment of a Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC), a centralised cyber crime coordination and data-sharing platform for law enforcement agencies – called the Samanvay platform – and the creation of a nation-level state registry of suspected cyber criminals.
The registry will carry details of those involved in cyber and online financial frauds. It is based on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), in collaboration with banks and financial intermediaries. Shah asserted the Cyber Suspect Registry must be interconnected across states as “states have their own boundaries, but cyber criminals have no boundaries.”
The initiatives all fall under the purview of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) – a national hub for coordinating prevention and response to digital baddies. The I4C is also embarking on a public awareness campaign to disseminate cyber crime prevention information and promote a national cyber crime helpline number to ensure victims know where to seek help.
Shah asserted that India leads the world for digital payments – figures from the Reserve Bank of India estimate that 46 percent of the digital payments in the world take place in that country – and that additional protection from digital fraud is necessary.
In 2014, only 600 of India’s panchayats, or local governments, were connected to the internet, compared to 213,000 today, observed Shah. The minister disclosed that so far, I4C has issued more than 600 advisories – blocking a wide range of websites, social media pages, mobile apps and accounts operated by cyber criminals. Additionally, over 1100 officers have been trained in cyber forensics.
