Mumbai cops widen net for e-mail fraudsters

In a move that makes them better equipped to tackle any kind of fraud or threat over e-mail, the Mumbai Police have reached a major...

In a move that makes them better equipped to tackle any kind of fraud or threat over e-mail, the Mumbai Police have reached a major understanding with Internet service providers (ISPs) that gives them instant access to all IP (Internet protocol) addresses, thereby making it easier to track down offenders working out of the city.

The IP addresses — it’s unique for every computer that uses the IP standard, almost like a telephone number or street address — are contained in six CDs. And now, armed with these CDs, the police can avoid time-consuming formalities while tracking an offender.

“I have held meetings with ISPs and we have finally been able to procure data of all registered IP addresses. Now, if a complainant approaches the police with a printout of an e-mail sent to him, we can send a police team to the offender’s house or cyber cafe used by him within minutes,” DCP (enforcement) Sanjay Mohite told The Indian Express.

Till now, a simple task of tracing an IP address would take days. “First, we had to approach service providers, then send a written communication to them citing grounds for seeking such details. The service provider would then take two to three days to respond with the IP address,” said Mohite. This elaborate process meant the offender got more time to cover his tracks. “Now we have the tools that will lead us to the criminal in no time,” he added.

Cyber crime experts have welcomed the Mumbai police’s latest acquisition. “The first time I worked with the cyber crime cell, we had to wait for three days before we could catch the hacker. The service provider was based in Chennai and they took a long time to provide us details,” said Vijay Mukhi, formerly associated with NASSCOM and now president of the Foundation for Information Security and Technology (FIST).

Now, Mukhi believes detection of such crimes will take much less time.

Initially, Mohite and his men faced a few bottlenecks on the question of consumer privacy. “We accessed such a database on grounds of national security. We can use the CDs to track down the origin of seditious mails sent from the city, if the need arises,” he added.

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As for the issue of privacy, Mukhi felt things have changed post-7/11. “The concept of privacy has really changed. In the interest of security, ISPs will be obliged to part with such details.”