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Journalism of Courage
Indian IT companies,cyber crime experts and the police have for the first time kicked off a collaborative effort to prevent multi-million dollar losses due to cyber crimes,including data theft and cyber terrorism in the country.
Modelled on the FBI-funded National Cyber Forensics Training Alliance in the United States,the Indian collaborative effort is being piloted by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and aims to pool resources and experience from companies and police agencies to combat cyber crime.
Cyber security enforcement in the country has largely been carried out through Cyber Labs set up in different cities by NASSCOM.
We need a quantum leap on the Cyber Lab model that trains around 3000 people on cyber security every year. We need a virtual group of experts like the US NCFTA. A group that collects and shares knowledge on facets of cyber crime, says Prathap Reddy,an IPS officer from Karnataka who is now advisor to NASSCOM.
This week,Reddy used the third anniversary celebration of the countrys first Cyber Lab located in Bangalore to rally support from private sector IT experts for a public-private alliance.
The IT industry is looking for such a collaboration but does not know how to go about it, Prathap Reddy said. The Indian cyber crime alliance will also establish ties with international agencies like the NCFTA in the US,he said.
We are willing to offer a second line of people on deputation to technically assist investigators of cyber crimes, said Chellam Raju,a security expert with Fidelity,which operates in India and is part of the US cyber forensics alliance.
Globally,in 2009 alone losses due to cyber crimes have been estimated at $109 billion. In India,among the chief concerns of the outsourcing dependent IT and ITES industry has been issues of data theft.Unlike in the US,where it is mandatory to put in the public domain details of cyber offences,Indian companies have not been very open about security breaches because of the fear of adverse industry reactions.
Cyber law enforcement agencies in India have found it tough to nail perpetrators,with offenders often based overseas. In Karnataka out of 307 cyber offences registered since 2000,charge sheets have been filed only in 65 cases and no punishments have been ordered,says director general of police of the state CID D V Guruprasad. Karnatakas IT secretary Ashok Kumar Manoli said his department was willing to fund the initiative in return for expertise from the alliance.
