HM Shah chairs meeting on cyber security
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs on ‘Cyber Security and Cyber Crime’ held in the national capital.
The meeting was attended by Union MoS for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, committee members, Home Secretary and senior officials of the ministry.
At the meeting, Shah highlighted the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure in India and the resulting rise in cyber threats. He emphasised that cyberspace is a complex network of software, services and users, and controlling cyber fraud requires a strategic approach targeting all three aspects. He also mentioned that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, several steps have been taken to enhance cybersecurity in the country.
Shah said that cybercrime has no geographical boundaries and is, therefore, a ‘borderless’ and ‘formless’ crime.
He called for understanding the scale of India’s digital revolution to combat cyber threats effectively. He said that 95 percent of villages in India are digitally connected, and one lakh gram panchayats are Wi-Fi hotspots.
According to the Home Minister, India is now the third largest digital landscape in the world, and the digital economy accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total economy.
He also stressed the importance of public awareness, promoting PM Modi’s mantra—’STOP-THINK-TAKE ACTION’—to prevent cyber fraud. Providing statistics on cybercrime control efforts, he said that 143,000 FIRs have been registered on the I4C portal, which has been used by over 19 crore people. For national security reasons, 805 apps and 3,266 website links have been blocked based on I4C’s recommendations, while suspicious transactions worth Rs 2,038 crore have been prevented.
Over 19 lakh mule accounts have been identified, and 6 lakh suspicious data points have been shared with authorities. Cyber Crime Forensic Training Labs have been established in 33 states and union territories to boost cybercrime investigation capabilities. ‘CyTrain’ is a MOOC platform, which has enrolled 101,561 police officers so far. More than 78,000 certificates have been issued through this platform.
