Frauds increasing with enhanced use of cyberspace: MoS Ajay Mishra to Lok Sabha

New Delhi [India], March 21 : With enhanced use of cyberspace, frauds committed by fraudsters by masking their identity is also increasing, Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Mishra revealed the fact while responding to the query of an MP in a written reply.

Noting that 'police' and 'public order' are state subjects as per the seventh schedule of the Constitution, Mishra, however, made it clear that the states and UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of crimes including cybercrime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).

"The LEAs take legal action as per the provisions of law against persons involved in cyber fraud," said the minister.

The Central government supplements the initiatives of the states and UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for their capacity building, said Mishra.

To strengthen the mechsm to deal with cyber crimes including cyber fraud in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the MoS said, the Central government has taken steps for spreading awareness about cyber crimes, issuance of alerts and advisories, capacity building and training of law enforcement personnel and prosecutors and judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities.

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, he further said.

The 'Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System' has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by fraudsters, said Mishra.

"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," said the minister.

To spread awareness about cybercrime among the citizens, the Central government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include; dissemination of messages through SMS, I4C social media accounts such as 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 government officials, issuance of advisories to Ministries of Government of India and states as well as UTs.

"The ministries of the Government of India have also been requested to orgse Cyber Jaagrookta (awareness) Diwas on the first Wednesday of every month. I4C has orgsed a training program for Government officials on Cyber Hygiene," he added.

The states and UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness., said the MoS.

"MHA has released a Manual on 'Cyber Hygiene' for cyberspace. Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) releases a newsletter 'Cyber Pravah' giving the latest information on cyberspace," the minister informed further.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor