Cyber Crimes in India

General Studies Paper-3

Context: Around 50% of cyber-crime complaints received on the national cybercrime helpline every day have their origin in China and pockets of Cambodia and Myanmar.

What is Cybercrime?

• Cybercrime refers to criminal activities that involve the use of computers, networks, and digital technologies.
• It encompasses a wide range of illicit activities conducted in the virtual space, often with the intent to compromise, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, and data.
• Cybercriminals employ various techniques and tools to exploit vulnerabilities in networks, and they may target individuals, organizations, or even governments.

Common types of cybercrime include:

• Hacking: Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks to steal, alter, or destroy data.
• Phishing: Deceptive attempts to acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, and financial details, by posing as a trustworthy entity.
• Malware: Malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. This includes viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, and spyware.
• Identity Theft: Stealing and using someone’s personal information, such as social security numbers or credit card details, for fraudulent purposes.
• Cyber Espionage: Covert activities aimed at gaining unauthorized access to sensitive information for political, economic, or military purposes.
• Cyberbullying: Using digital platforms to harass, threaten, or intimidate individuals.
• Online Fraud: Engaging in fraudulent activities, such as online scams and financial fraud, to deceive and exploit victims for monetary gain.

Cybercrime in India

• Chief executive officer of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), mentioned that on average 5,000 cyber complaints are registered in the country every day and around 40-50% originate outside the country.

There were five major cybercrime trends noticed last year:

• complaints were received against Investment Apps/Websites which offered part time jobs or lured people into Ponzi schemes;
• complaints pertaining to Illegal loan Apps;
• complaints on Customer Care Number and One Time Password (OTP) frauds;
• complaints of Impersonation or takeover of social media accounts and
• complaints of Sextortion.
• Most cyber crimes were reported from Haryana, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Goa. Among Union Territories, most complaints came from Delhi, followed by Chandigarh and Puducherry.

Impact of Cyber Crimes

• National Security Threats: Cyber crimes pose a threat to national security when state-sponsored actors or criminal organizations target critical infrastructure, government institutions, or military systems.
• Financial Loss: This includes theft of personal information, online banking fraud, credit card fraud, and ransomware attacks.
• Data Breaches: Data breaches can lead to the exposure of personal information, trade secrets, intellectual property, and other confidential data, causing severe damage to the affected entities.
• Disruption of Services: Cyber attacks can disrupt essential services such as power grids, communication networks, and transportation systems.
• Reputational Damage: Organizations that fall victim to cyber attacks often suffer reputational damage.
• Customer trust can be eroded, and it may take a significant amount of time and resources to rebuild a positive image.
• Increased Costs for Cybersecurity Measures: This includes implementing robust security protocols, training employees, and deploying advanced technologies, which can result in increased operational costs.

Initiatives by Government of India to Prevent Cybercrimes

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): CERT-In is the national nodal agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents.
• It provides proactive and reactive cybersecurity support and plays a crucial role in ensuring the security and resilience of the country’s cyber infrastructure.
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC): NCIIPC is responsible for protecting critical information infrastructure from cyber threats.
• It identifies and designates critical sectors and advises organizations in these sectors on enhancing their cybersecurity measures.
• Cyber Crime Prevention against Women & Children (CCPWC) scheme: The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to all the States & UTs under the scheme to support their efforts for setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, training, and hiring of junior cyber consultants.
• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): The Government has established I4C to provide a framework and ecosystem for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
• ‘Joint Cyber Coordination Teams’ have been constituted for seven regions at Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam and Guwahati under the I4C.
• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: The Government has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to enable the public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes.
• A toll-free number 1930 has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.
• The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System module has also been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters.

Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre): This initiative is aimed at creating awareness about botnet and malware infections and providing tools for detection and cleaning.