Taking a massive step to ensure cyber security in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced several new initiatives, including training 5,000 'cyber commandos', setting up a web-based data registry as well as a portal to share cyber crime information. he also suggested a national registry of suspects to prevent future crimes. He stated that cybercrimes see "no boundaries" and that national security is impossible without cyber security.
5,000 cyber commandos to be trained
While addressing the gathering at the first foundation day of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), the home minister said the government is planning to train 5,000 cyber commandos over the next five years to deal with cybercrimes in India.
Saying that the cybercrime has no boundaries, he it is imperative that all stakeholders come together to deal with the menace.
Amit Shah launches four platforms under I4C
Amit Shah also inaugurated four platforms under I4C to fight cybercrimes. The home minister also inaugurated a ‘suspect registry’, where details of criminals involved in cyber and online financial frauds will be stored at one place and can be accessed by the states, union territories, central investigation and intelligence agencies.
He also urged cybersecurity agencies to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify the modus operandi of criminals duping people of their hard-earned money, spreading fake news and abusing women and children online.
What is I4C
The I4C, established in 2018, is a department under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
It is tasked with establishing a national-level coordination centre to address all cybercrime-related issues in the country.
"We have 95 crore Internet users in the country as of March 31 as compared to 25 crore during the same time period in 2014," Shah said, adding that in 2014, as many as 600 panchayats were linked to the Internet but the has reached 2.
13 lakh now.
Amit Shah on UPI transcations
The home minister said that in 2024, India saw UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions worth about Rs 20,64,000 crore which is 46 per cent of the global digital transactions.
"This makes our work challenging and hence protection against cyber fraud is required," Shah said and flagged issues such as the illegal sale of important personal data over the Internet, the spread of fake news, tool kits, online harassment and abuse of women and children.
