
NEW DELHI, JULY 23: India had not woken up to the problems of cyber crime and that this was the biggest challenge facing the law-enforcement agencies, said Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan at a CBI-organised seminar in the Capital today.
8220;Cyber crime is different from physical crime. You need different methods to combat it. A crime committed using a computer is the biggest challenge facing law-enforcement agencies,8221; he said at the seminar titled Cyber Law and the Police seminar.
He urged the private sector to help the police in combating this menace. 8220;In no other prosecution do you need the private sector, but this IT language was developed in the private sector, and we need people to educate us about it,8221; he said, adding, 8220;The new war is not a conventional war.8221;
8220;There was a need to educate the judicial system about cyber crimes. There is a need to start an e-court, to put up an example for people,8221; he said.
Mahajan also spoke about his visit to the FBI headquarters and said he had told the Prime Minister that India needed an institution like that.
He released a CD on cyber crime prepared by the CBI, which contains tips on combatting cyber crime. The CBI is also planning on releasing another CD once the IT Bill comes into effect.
Mahajan said the Centre is ready to give help to the states in training and establishing infrastructure to handle the problem of cyber crime.
He also touched upon the proposal to set up a national critical infrastructure group to protect critical and sensitive documents, and said that it was under consideration.
The seminar was attended by representatives of the state police, CBI and other law enforcement agencies, the ministry of information technology and representatives from the industry. It was held to educate and create awareness about cyber crimes in law enforcement agencies. The CBI director said later at a press conference that the objective was to educate the state police. 8220;The CBI wants to take leadership in cyber crime and provide inputs to all state police,8221; he said.
8220;It will be our constant endeavour to provide knowhow on investigation of such new type of crime to the state police forces. We will extend all possible help,8221; Raghavan said.
He said that there may be a need to make refinements in the law. quot;The cyber cell of the agency is fully equipped. It is at par with any agency anywhere in the world,8221; he said.
The CBI director appealed to state police forces to train its officials and come out with suggestions to improve the cyber policing.