Assam becoming a hotspot of cyber crimes, says DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam's Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said on Thursday that the State is becoming a hotspot of cyber crimes and urged the public, especially the youth, to be aware of cyber crimes and to follow the cyber safety norms.

Speaking at a 'Cyber Safety and National Security: Cyber Apradh Se Azadi - Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' organized by the CID at the Rabindra Bhawan here, Mahanta referred to the recent initiatives being taken by the Assam Police to tackle cyber crimes. He said that cyber criminals are increasingly targeting various sectors in the State, including banking, railway, power and oil. Therefore, he said, the need of the hour is to create awareness regarding cyber crimes, which he termed as "a fifth-generation war'. He said that even the police and the media will have to acquire the required knowledge to combat the menace of cyber crimes.

He said that the Assam Police will request the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) to incorporate a chapter on cyber crimes in its syllabus to educate young students.

Earlier, Additional DGP (CID) AYV Krishna said in his welcome address that there has been a 16 per cent increase in cyber crimes in the State in the last few years. Mentioning that personal revenge is one of the motives of cyber crimes, Krishna informed that the Assam Police has set up a 24x7 call centre (No.1930) where complaints can be lodged against cyber crimes. Many such crimes have been solved so far, the ADGP added. He also spoke about the steps taken by the Assam Police to tackle the cyber crimes, such as organizing a Regional Cyber Crime Co-ordination Workshop, a seminar on use of Darknet and Crypto Currency for Drug Law Enforcement agencies, training for Investigating Officers in co-ordination with C-DAC, procurement and distribution of First Responder Kits and about the plans to set up Cyber Crime Police Stations.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr John Jose, Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, IIT, Guwahati, said that the mobile phone is a very powerful gadget which is used for cyber crimes. He cited the example of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which uses a data system which is not made India. It becomes very easy for cyber criminals to collect data regarding railway customers from this data system, he said. He said that in order to avoid cyber crimes, one should not post all kinds of personal matters on social media.

As part of this day-long event, a quiz and poster making competition for school/college students, an audio-visual presentation on Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav were also organized. The National School of Drama designed a street play to propagate the message of cyber safety and cyber hygiene. The Sangeet Natak Academy composed a song on cyber safety and cyber hygiene.

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