• There's been a pronounced rise in cyber crime in the country, and in Assam.
• Assam recorded 379 cases of cyber crime in 2014, 483 in 2015, 696 in 2016, 1120 in 2017, and 2022 cases in 2018.
• There was an increase of 433.5% increase in the cybercrimes reported in the state.
• Assam recorded a cybercrime rate of 5.9 against the all - India rate of 2.1.
• Majority of cybercrime cases were done for the purpose of fraud, followed by sexual exploitation and causing disrepute.
• Cyber-criminals are the new entrepreneurs in these days of smartphones and e-payment gateways.
• Assam police have introduced cyber dome to fight such crimes.
There's been a pronounced rise in cyber crime in the country, and the situation seems to be getting worse. Assam too has shown a similar trend, recording a sharp increase in the number of reported cyber-crimes compared to the previous years.
According to data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Assam recorded 379 cases of cyber crime in 2014, 483 cases in 2015, 696 cases in 2016, 1120 cases in 2017, and 2022 cases of cyber crime in the year 2018.
The given data points at a massive 433.5% increase in the number of cyber crime being reported in the state.
The cybercrime rate is the number of cybercrimes taking place per one lakh population. The NCRB data show the number of cybercrimes in Assam in 2018 at 2022 cases with a rate of 5.9 against the all-India rate of 2.1. Assam has been placed third, next to only Karnataka and Lakshadweep in terms of cybercrimes.
The bane of the internet, cybercrime refers to any and all illegal activities carried out using technology. Cybercriminals — who range from rogue individuals to organized crime groups to state-sponsored factions — use techniques like phishing, social engineering, and all kinds of malware to pursue their nefarious plans.
The major targets of cybercriminals are banks and other financial institutions. Over the years, cyber criminals have engineered multiple ways of targeting people including internet frauds, tele-calling frauds and ATM hacks.
During 2018, 55.2% of cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (15051 out of 27248 cases) followed by sexual exploitation with 7.5% (2030 cases) and causing disrepute with 4.4% (1212 cases).
In Assam, too, about 20% of cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (389 out of 2022 cases). Among other reasons of cybercrime in Assam were extortion (153 cases), personal revenge (239 cases), and sexual exploitation (113 cases).
One of the most prominent cases of cybercrime reported in the year 2018 was when Padma Shri Jadav Payeng became victim to a cyber crime racket.
A website, allegedly run using Jadav's name, managed to con travellers and researchers from across the globe into paying over Rs 1 lakh each for visiting the forest he has been working in.
Upon lodging of complaint, the Assam police arrested one Anil Kumar Gade on charges of running the fake website.
In the age of internet, cyber-criminals are the new entrepreneurs in these days of smartphones and e-payment gateways in India. Assam is no different and the most commonly and blindly used Search Engine – Google is playing havoc. It is to be mentioned that cyber-criminals are like entrepreneurs of the 21st century who have identified innovative ways to capitalise on others’ failings. They succeed because the attack surface is expanding and cyber security hasn’t caught on in India so far as it should have.
In a recent advancement in cybercrime, criminals are registering fraudulent numbers on Google to con the general public. Cyber criminals not only target internet users via website but also by app-based chat boxes like WhatsApp among others. E-wallets such as GooglePay have also been used as mediums for committing such crimes.
“With the rising popularity of social networking sites, there has also been an increase in the cases of defamation on those sites,” a senior police official told G Plus. The police are increasingly receiving a number of cases related to trolling, defamation, threats and personal attacks made through social media.
Assam Police have, however, added more teeth to its capability to combat the emerging cyber threats with the commissioning of a cyber dome. The cyber dome is a centre of excellence for Assam police to meet long-term security challenges in the digital arena and for capacity building of police personnel and creating basic cyber awareness among general population.
India to announce new National Cybersecurity Policy soon
The Indian government recently revealed that it is working on a new cybersecurity policy that would address all the concerns related to cyber threats and data vulnerabilities happening across government departments and the private sector in India.
At the Sixth Cyber Security India Summit 2020, held in New Delhi, Dr Rajesh Pant, national cybersecurity coordinator from Prime Minister’s Office, said that the new policy is expected to be launched in the next two to three months. Further, he said that the new policy will address all the issues related to the cyber ecosystem, be it standardisation, testing, auditing and capacity development among others.
However, this is not the first time that the government has announced such plans, but so far, nothing concrete has emerged in this regard. In August 2019, the national cybersecurity coordinator had reportedly said that it will be launching the policy in January 2020, which did not happen.
Amid the increasing cybercrime and frauds in digital payments, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad last month also announced that the government is looking to change the existing norms laid out in the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.