With enhanced use of cyber space, frauds committed by fraudsters by masking their identity is also increasing. ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.
The States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cyber crime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).
The law enforcement agencies take legal action as per the provisions of law against persons involved in cyber fraud.
The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for their capacity building.
To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes including cyber fraud in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps for spreading awareness about cyber crimes, issuance of alerts/ advisories, capacity building/ training of law enforcement personnel/ prosecutors/ judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities, etc.
The Government has established the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’ has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off fund by the fraudsters.
The Government has launched the ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (www.cybercrime.gov.in) to enable the public to report all types of cyber crimes.
A toll-free Helpline number ‘1930’ has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.
To spread awareness on cyber crime among all the citizens, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include dissemination of messages through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. Twitter handle (@Cyberdost), Facebook(CyberDostI4C), Instagram (cyberdosti4c), Telegram(cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple mediums, publishing of ‘Information Security Best Practices’ for the benefit of Govt. Officials, issuance of advisories to Ministries of Government of India and States/UTs, etc.
The Ministries of Government of India have also been requested to organise Cyber Jaagrookta (awareness) Diwas on the first Wednesday of every month.
I4C has organised training programme for Government officials on Cyber Hygiene.
The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness. MHA has released Manual on ‘Cyber Hygiene’ for cyberspace.
Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) releases a newsletter ‘Cyber Pravah’ giving latest information on the cyber space.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
