Cybercrime not limited to digital world, but poses threat to national, global security: Amit Shah at G20 meet

New Delhi, July 13

Noting that cybercrime is no longer confined to the digital world, it has become a subject of national and global security, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said incidents ranging from ransomware attacks, sale of critical personal data, online harassment and child abuse to fake news and misinformation campaigns with toolkits are being carried out by cybercriminals.

Inaugurating the G20 conference on crime and security in the age of NFTs, Al and the Metaverse, Shah cautioned the global community that terrorists are using dark-net to hide their identity and spread radical material.

“We have to understand the pattern of these activities running on the dark-net, and find solutions for the same. To create a “robust and efficient” operational system, we need to think coherently to crack down on the use of various virtual assets,” Shah said.

The Home Minister also expressed concerns over the transformation of security challenges from ‘Dynamite to Metaverse’ and ‘Hawala to Crypto currency’. He said this required countries of the world to come together and devise a common strategy against these menaces.

Asking the world community to come together to ensure a “safe and secure cyberspace”, Shah said, “There must be efforts to bring some uniformity in the laws of all countries made to counter digital crimes.”

Keeping in mind the borderless nature of cybercrimes, the minister said, “We must put in place a response mechanism under different laws of the countries.”

He also stressed on preservation, investigation and coordination of evidence in line with the United Nations Convention on Criminal Use of Information and Communication Technology.