Decks cleared for setting up cyber security centre in Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, June 20

The decks have been cleared for the establishment of a cyber security centre in the city to deal with the ever-growing cases of cybercrime.

Cyber security main challenge

• After a discussion with experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the police and other stakeholders, the UT Administration prepared the final proposal for setting up the centre and submitted it to the MHA for approval.
• An official said cyber security would be one of the main challenges in the coming years and they wanted to lead the way in the region in meeting the new-age challenges. Apart from research and analysis work, the centre would prepare strategies to deal with future challenges. It would be the first such centre in the region.

A senior official said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had accorded in-principle approval for the proposed centre, which was likely to be named the Centre for Cyber Security Operation (CenCOP). He said the final approval would be received only after getting funds sanctioned by the Finance Ministry.

After a discussion with experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the police and other stakeholders, the UT Administration prepared the final proposal for setting up the centre and submitted it to the MHA for approval.

The official said cyber security would be one of the main challenges in the coming years and they wanted to lead the way in the region in meeting the new-age challenges. Apart from research and analysis work, the centre would prepare strategies to deal with future challenges, he said, adding that the centre was most likely to be established within this year under the supervision of the UT police. It would be the first such centre in the region to deal with rising cases of online frauds, he added.

The official said the anti-drone technology would also be part of the proposed centre. Over security threats and the possibility of misuse of drones by anti-social elements, the UT Administration had recently banned flying of drones and low-flying objects in the city.

Recently, the UT police had set up cyber desks at all police stations to lessen the burden on the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC), which is unable to focus on special cases. Several categories of cybercrime have been defined, which will be dealt by the police stations.

As cyber criminals are on the prowl, the city has witnessed a steep increase in such cases in the past few years. The CCIC receives nearly 6,000 complaints every year. So far, 2,738 complaints have already been received till June 8, while there are only 68 police personnel at the CCIC to investigate these complaints and catch the elusive cyber criminals.

As per police records, a total of 5,922 complaints were received in 2021 and 67 FIRs were registered. Already 134 complaints of fraudulent transactions through UPI, asking for money after using pictures of senior government functionaries as DP on WhatsApp, have been received this year.

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