Lok Sabha Question No. 2403 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Increase in Cyber Crime
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: KALIKESH NARAYAN SINGH DEO

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2403

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.12.2018

## INCREASE IN CYBER CRIME

## 2403. SHRI KALIKESH N. SINGH DEO:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a) the details of number of identified cyber crimes in the year 2018-19, in comparison to the year 2017-18, State-wise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  adopted  any  innovative  technological  steps  to  reduce  incidences  of  cyber crime in the country;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) the details of total number of cyber-security experts working for the Government along with total number of vacancies available for such experts;
- (e) whether the Government has any plans to formally train experts to deal with cyber-threats in the country, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  effort  to  educate  citizens  regarding  cyber  crime  and  if  so,  the details of such efforts?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA)

(a):    Data related to cyber crime is maintained by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). As per NCRB, data for 2017 is under compilation.

(b) and (c):    Government has taken several innovative technological steps to reduce incidences of cyber crime in the country. These, inter alia include:

- (i) Government has set up the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre). The Centre is providing detection of malicious programs and free tools to remove the same.
- (ii) Government  has  set  up  National  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  (NCCC)  to  generate  necessary  situational awareness  of  existing  and  potential  cyber  security  threats  and  enable  timely  information  sharing  for proactive, preventive and protective actions by individual entities. Phase-I of NCCC has already been made operational.
- (iii) Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA)  has  launched  a  portal  www.cybercrime.gov.in  for  public  to  report complaints of child pornography and sexually abusive explicit content. MHA has created a Twitter Handle 'Cyber Dost' to spread awareness on cyber safety and cyber security,

(d): Cyber security is a challenging field because of ever changing threat scenario. Government, including the State Governments recruit cyber security experts. No such data is maintained centrally.

(e): Cyber  Surakshit  Bharat  (CSB)  programme  was  initiated  by  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information Technology (MeitY) with the objective to educate and enable the Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and broader IT community to address the challenges of cyber security,  in partnership with Industry consortium.

CERT-In  conducts  regular  training  programmes  for  network  /  system  administrators  and  Chief  Information Security Officers (CISOs)  of  Government  and  critical  sector organisations regarding securing the IT infrastructure and mitigating cyber attacks. 22 trainings covering 746 participants conducted in the year 2018 (till November).

(f): Government has taken several measures to educate citizens regarding cyber crime  in  the  country. These inter-alia include:

- (i) MeitY  through  a  program,  namely,  Information  Security  Education  &  Awareness  (ISEA),  has  been highlighting the importance of following the ethics while using Internet and advice on different aspects of
- cyber  crime.  A  dedicated  website  for  information  security  awareness  (https://www.infosecawareness.in) has also been set up.
- (ii) The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats and countermeasures on regular basis to ensure safe usage of digital technologies. Regarding securing digital payments, 28 advisories have been issued for users and institutions.
- (iii) MHA has published a Handbook for Adolescents/Students on Cyber Safety.

*******