Cyber Crimes are on the Rise

Dr DV Guruprasad, the head of Karnataka CID, which investigates all cyber crimes in the entire state, talks about the spurt in e-crimes in the IT hub.

What prompted Karnataka to set up its - and India's - first full-fledged cyber crimes police station in 2001?

Karnataka is a pioneer in information technology and hence the police top brass of Karnataka thought that it would be necessary to establish a cyber crime police station in Bangalore. So, the police station was established in 2001.

Does the Karnataka police have in-house cyber security experts?

Yes, we have trained two detective inspectors working in Cyber Cell, CID, Bangalore. They have been trained not only in India, but by US agencies as well.

What kind of computer/ information technology training has Karnataka provided to its sub-inspectors for cyber and related crimes?

We have established a cyber training cell with the active support of Data Security Council of India, a wing of NASSCOM (a trade body representing India's IT and business process outsourcing companies). A technical expert has been provided by NASSCOM and two experts by State CID to impart training. We train police officers, bank officials, prosecutors, defence personnel etc on a regular basis. For police officials, we give training on the basics of cyber crime and how to investigate such crimes.

Do you hire private service providers for handling/ cracking cyber crimes or related aspects of other crimes?

Yes, we hire private experts on and off on a need basis to help us investigate cyber crimes. However, our own experts are quite good at their jobs.

On average, how many computer-related cases does the Karnataka police get in a month or year? Has there been a spurt in computer-related crimes in your state?

On average, Karnataka police registers about 120 cyber crimes every year. There has been an increase in cyber crimes in the past one year. This is because the IT Act has been amended and crimes carried out by using cellphones, too, have come under its purview. Of late, we have seen a rise in e-mails and text messages being used by criminals to lure unsuspecting people to part with their money.

Generally, what kind of cyber and related crimes does the Karnataka police have to deal with?

Generally, three major types of cyber crimes are committed. They are:

• Phishing mails by which the criminals fraudulently transfer amounts from the bank accounts of victims. Sometimes, fraudsters make the victims send (them) the money by saying that they have won a lottery.
• The second type of crime is related to morphing images of persons to harm their reputation and using indecent images of women/ children.
• The third category is related to job scams, wherein a victim is told that he has been given a job and he is asked to send money.

Of the three, 50 per cent of the crimes committed fall in the first category.

Can you give us an example of a major case that the cyber crime police station cracked with the aid of computer-related evidence?

It is a pity that in the past 10 years, there has been no conviction in India in respect of crimes under the IT Act. This is because the understanding of cyber crime on the part of law enforcement authorities, including the prosecution department, is not high. It is hoped that we will get convictions in the near future.

 

Author: Rahat Bano (HT Horizons)

Date: 28th October, 2010

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