Govt to rope in professional hackers to fight cyber crime: Yogesh Kadam

Kadam was speaking at a media interaction organised by the Pune Union of Working Journalists.

As part of the project, around 5,000 police personnel are being trained in cyber security and cyber crime investigation, he said.

The Maharashtra government is planning to rope in professional hackers for its ongoing cyber security project to tackle a range of cyber crimes and its investigation, said Minister of State for Home (Urban) Yogesh Kadam on Thursday. As part of the project, around 5,000 police personnel are being trained in cyber security and cyber crime investigation, he said.

Kadam was speaking at a media interaction organised by the Pune Union of Working Journalists. Answering a question about cyber crimes, Kadam said, “We have taken some important decisions with regards to cyber crime. One is setting up the cyber security project at Mahape. One of the focus areas of this project is using Artificial Intelligence tools for cyber security and cyber crime investigations. All the cyber crime police stations have been linked with the project. For example, a complaint received in Pune is relayed to this project within one and half minutes and initial response to that case is coordinated from this centre at Mahape. Increasing the number of cyber crime police stations is not the only solution for this issue.”

“We have to also understand that people have to approach the cyber crime helpline or the police immediately after the incident has taken place. We have mechanisms to stop the loss of money if victims approach us within the initial few hours. After that the funds are siphoned abroad. It is important to strengthen the systems at our end to undertake the steps towards funds recovery in the golden hour. For that we have collaborated with the private sector, specifically L&T for this project. Presently we are training 5,000 police personnel and officers on cyber security and cyber crime investigation. And this trained police force will be solely deployed with the cyber crime police stations across the state. Once the training of these cops is completed, we can also expand our pool of cyber investigators,” he added.

“At the same time, we are also trying to rope in some professional hackers and cyber security experts on contract basis. Their expertise will benefit us in remaining a step ahead and fight cyber crime. But the most important tool is awareness, which remains the main focus of our efforts against cyber crime. The Union government has also stressed on this,” Kadam added.

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cyber crime