Chandigarh to have cyber security operation centre

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 28

To deal with ever growing cases of cybercrime, the UT Administration is all set to establish a cyber security operation centre in the city to protect gullible people from being duped of their hard-earned money.

The cybercriminals are on the prowl as the city has been witnessing a steep increase in such cases in the past few years. In 2017, the police had received 2,242 complaints and the number swelled to 3,167 in 2018 and further rose to 4,793 in 2019. Nearly 6,300 complaints of cybercrime were received last year, while 3,306 complaints had been filed till July 18 this year.

The UT Adviser, Dharam Pal, said, “We are looking at various options for setting up the centre. An initial concept has been prepared, but more brainstorming needs to be done before giving a final shape to the model.”

“Cyber security will be one of the main challenges in the coming times and we want to lead in that not only in the region but also in the country,” he said. Apart from meeting the new-age challenges being faced by cyber security experts, research and analysis work would also be carried out at the centre, he said, adding that strategies would also be devised in anticipation of future challenges.

On the progress of the centre, he said discussions were held with stakeholders, including engineering institutions, Infosys, etc, in setting up the centre. He said they were in regular touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the centre was likely to be established next year under the supervision of the police. The Adviser said the Police Department was assisting the Administration in setting up the cyber security operation centre.

Recently, the Chandigarh Police set up cyber desks at all police stations to lessen the burden on Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC), which is unable to focus on special cases. Several categories of cybercrime have been defined which will be dealt with by the police stations.