IDAW Session on Systems to Deal with CYBER CRIME

The Thursday session of the Indian Democracy at Work Conference 2021 on Rule of Law saw a renowned panel deliberate on developing systems that can tackle Cyber Crime. Mrs. Rohini Katoch Sepat IPS, Superintendent of Police in CID, Bengaluru is the Moderator of the session. Shri Amit Dubey, a renowned Cyber Security Expert and a Crime Investigator on Cyber Forensics to various Indian Investigation Agencies. Shri. Manoj Abraham, IPS, Additional Director General of Police and the Head of Cyber Security of Kerala. Jayaprakash Narayana, Retd. IAS and founder of Foundation for Democratic Reforms participated.

The interesting deliberative session was opened by Mrs. Rohini Sepat asking the esteemed panelists that targeting individuals for money, targeting women, and attacking online infrastructure is on the rise and how can we put systems in place to control this problem. She said that profile and identity are also voluntarily given out by unsuspecting individuals are and hence putting themselves to danger.  Identity theft protection measures and on another front training of judges and prosecutors to quickly punish criminals. Continuously upgrading of the systems, technology with Individuals being alert and careful will go a long way to curb the menace.  

Shri Amit Dubey said that guidelines must be established so that individuals who could be accessing systems should be well known More awareness at an individual level is also particularly important. Using latest technology with Centralized information System of all reporting of crime so that all law enforcement agencies are aware of the crime and can act quickly is equally important.  He also suggested that specialized department in police and investigation are need of the day. Further, he explained some latest cyber frauds and their complexities to make the audience aware of what is going on.   

Shri. Manoj Abraham said private public partnership, local level quick action, community participation, and strategic partnerships are a must for tackling this menace.  Research also shows that global networks and partnerships offer the best solutions. He said all department need to come out from department level boxes and coordinate with each other using technology.  At international level, different countries and private public partnerships who have the technology and expertise are very critical as the technology quickly changes and only private technology companies can respond to this dynamic changes. At local level, Mr. Abraham added that we need to develop capacity amongst various stake holders. National Crime Reporting Portal and connected police enforcement, i.e complaint in one state and arrest in another to apprehend even the smallest crime with some additional laws for quick justice will go a long way in tackling the crime. He cautioned in the end that no system is perfectly safe, however, must use best practices, systems and technologies in place to defend ourselves against cyber crime.