DEPUTY CM Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said on the floor of the House that in light of rapidly evolving cyber crime cases, “outsourcing” investigation to IT companies should be considered. He said this was the trend in several countries when it came to fighting cyber crime. Responding to a question by Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande on rising cyber crimes, Fadnavis said, “.The cyber police have taken new equipment and there are 34 cyber and forensic laboratories across the state. We are also undertaking manpower training…it is also true that we will have to train personnel. Hence, I feel we should think about outsourcing investigations….” He added, “These companies are a step ahead of cyber criminals.if we take people, they are not upgraded. However, the technology upgrades every year.” Responding to Fadnavis, Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap said, “We do not know how much control we will have on their processes once the details go to another company.” Fadnavis assured him that he was not suggesting outsourcing of cyber crime detection. Citing the example of outsourcing the issuing of passports, he said, “They issue the passports but it is the government that decides who should or should not get a passport.” He said when he went to the Microsoft head office in the US, he learnt there was a cyber attack every three seconds in India. “.even if we outsource investigation.they may be the provider but data is ours.will keep in mind all the issues you have raised,” he told Jagtap. Responding to another question on whether there will be a Cyber Intelligence Unit, Fadnavis said, “We do track websites and social media but since cyber fraud is increasing, such a unit is needed.”
