Lok Sabha Question No. 192 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Cyber Security Guidelines
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Gajendra Singh Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *192

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 02.08.2023

## CYBER SECURITY GUIDELINES

## *192 † .      SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH PATEL:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)  the details of the efforts being made by the Government to prevent cyber crime;
- (b) whether the Government has issued cyber security guidelines to the States and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any scheme is being implemented by the Government to prevent fake calls and online fraud and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether any workshop is being conducted for cyber security and awareness in rural areas; and
- (e)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  in  this  regard during the last three years?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e) :  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *192 FOR 02.08.2023  REGARDING CYBER SECURITY GUIDELINES

.........

(a) and (c): The Government is committed to ensure that the Internet in India is Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable for all users. With the expansion of the Internet and more and more Indians coming online, instances of cyber crimes have also increased. Government is fully cognizant and aware of various cyber security threats and has undertaken following initiatives for curbing cybercrimes:

- i. The  Government  has  established  the  Indian  Cyber  Crime  Coordination  Centre (I4C)  to  provide  a  framework  and  eco-system  for  Law  Enforcement  Agencies (LEAs) to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
- ii. The  Government  has  launched  the  National  Cyber  Crime  Reporting  Portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in) to enable the public to report all types of cyber crimes. Cyber  Crimes  incidents  reported  on  this  portal  are  routed  automatically  to respective State/UT LEAs for further handling as per the provisions of law. Also, a toll-free number 1930 has been made operational for citizens to get assistance in lodging online complaints in their own language.
- iii. The  Information  Technology  Act,  2000  ('IT  Act')  and  rules  made  thereunder contain  several  provisions  for  safeguarding  users  in  the  cyberspace.  The  Act penalises  various  offences  relating  to  computer  resources,  including  tampering with computer  source  documents  (section  65),  dishonestly  or fraudulently damaging computer system (section 66), identity theft (section 66C), cheating by impersonation (section 66D), etc. In addition to such general provisions regarding cyber offences, it also provides for various offences that serve to secure the digital space for women, e.g.,  violation of bodily privacy  (section 66E), transmitting of obscene material (section 67), and publishing or transmission of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form (section 67A and 67B). These offences are in addition to various penal provisions under the Indian Penal Code, such as the offence of stalking using electronic communication (section 354D).

As  per  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution,  'Police'  is  a  State  subject.  As such, States are primarily responsible for the prevention, investigation etc. of such cybercrimes through the State police departments, which take preventive and penal action as per law.

- iv. The Government has launched Sanchar Saathi portal (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/ to  empower mobile subscribers, strengthen their  security  and increase  awareness about citizen centric initiatives of the government.
- v. Telecom  Regulatory  Authorities  of  India  (TRAI)  issued  a  regulation  'Telecom Commercial Communication Customers Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), 2018' with an aim to prevent the incidence of Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC), which may include Spam and phishing calls.
- vi. Department of Telecommunication (DoT) blocks access of Apps used for making fake  calls  with  Calling  Line  Identification  (CLI)  of  someone  else.  For  example, DoT blocked the access of IndyCall, Booster IndyCall etc.
- vii. The  Government  has  set  up  a  call  centre  with  number  1963  /  1800110420  for reporting  by  the  citizens  on  receiving  any  incoming  international  call  displaying Indian  mobile/  landline  numbers.  This  helps  in  busting  illegal  exchanges  cum telecom setups in the country. Till date 87 operations of illegal telecom setups have been unearthed.

(b):  The  Government has issued number of cyber security  guidelines to the States/UTs Government which inter alia include the following:

- i. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued guidelines on information security practices for government entities in June 2023 covering  domains  such  as  data  security,  network  security,  identity  and  access management, application security, third-party outsourcing, hardening procedures, security monitoring, incident management and security auditing.
- ii. The  Government  has  formulated  Cyber  Crisis  Management  Plan  (CCMP)  for countering cyber-attacks and cyber terrorism for implementation by all Ministries/ Departments of Central Government, State Governments and their organizations and  critical  sectors.  In  addition,  guideline  documents  and  templates  have  been published  to  assist  development  and  implementation  of  sectoral  Cyber  Crisis Management Plans. CCMP provides strategic framework to coordinate recovery from cyber-crisis.

(d)  and  (e):A  number  of  activities  for  increasing  public  awareness  regarding  cyber security have been carried out, across the country including in rural areas, under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. These include the following:

- i. 1,519 awareness workshops on information security have been organised in both direct and  virtual  mode  for  school  and  college  students,  teachers,  faculty, government personnel, law enforcement agencies, general users, parents, women, Common Service  Centres,  etc.,  covering  3,18,767  participants  across  33  States and  Union  territories.  1,24,909  school  teachers  have  been  trained  as  master trainers in 43 training programme.
- ii. 5.75  crore  beneficiaries  are  estimated  to  have  been  covered  so  far  through multiple modes including 15 Cyber Safety and Cyber Security Awareness Weeks, 116 mass awareness programme broadcast through Doordarshan/All India Radio; 26 editions  of  bimonthly  newsletter and  multilingual  awareness  materials  in  the form of handbooks (16), multimedia short videos (75), multi-lingual posters (121), cartoon stories for children (65), etc. which have been disseminated through the print,  electronics  and  social  media,  besides  being  made  available  through  the ISEA awareness website (www.infosecawareness.in).
- iii. A  self-paced  three  module  e-learning  course  on  'Cyber  Hygiene  Practices'  has been  made  available  through  ISEA  awareness  portal  www.infosecawareness.in under which 85,767 participants have been registered and 30,849 participants have been  certified.  In  addition,  online  quiz  competitions  on  cyber  hygiene/cyber security aspects have been organized regularly for various users, in which, 7.37 lakh candidates have  participated and 3.90 lakh candidates have cleared the same.
- iv. The  CSC  Academy,  a  society  set  up  by  CSC  e-Governance  Services  India Limited, has partnered  with a number of corporate partners to implement cyber security and safety projects in the rural areas covering more than five lakh direct and indirect beneficiaries, including women.
- v. The  Indian  Computer  Emergency  Response  Team  (CERT-In)  issues  alerts  and advisories  regarding  latest  cyber  threats/vulnerabilities  and  countermeasures  to protect  computers  and  networks  on  an  ongoing  basis  through  its  official  social media handles and websites, which benefits all citizens, including those in rural areas.
- vi. CERT-In organised various events and activities for citizens during Safer Internet Day on 07.02.2023 and Cyber Security Awareness Month in October 2022,  by posting security tips using posters and videos on social

media platforms and websites. CERT-In, in association with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, conducted an online awareness campaign for citizens, covering topics such as general online safety, social media risks and safety,  mobile  related  frauds  and  safety,  secure  digital  payment  practices,  etc., through videos and quizzes on the MyGov platform.

- vii. Cyber Swachtta Kendra conducted "Cyber Swachhta Campaign" during the month of  October  2022,  and  around  69  crore  one-time  SMS  were  sent  out  through Internet  Service  Providers  to  citizens  including  in  rural  areas  to  create  cyber security awareness.
- viii. The  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA)  has  taken  steps  to  spread  awareness  on cyber crime that inter-alia include; issuance of alerts/advisories, dissemination of messages through SMS, 14C social media account i.e. Twitter handle (@Cyberdost),  Facebook(CyberDostI4C),  Instagram  (cyberdosti4c),  Telegram (cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple media, publishing of Handbook for Adolescents/Students, organizing of Cyber Safety and Security  Awareness  week,  in  association  with  police  department  in  different States/UTs etc.
- ix. MHA has issued advisory to all the State/UT Governments to carry out publicity of National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal https://cybercrime.gov.in and toll-free helpline number '1930' to create mass awareness.

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