Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah on 10 January 2020, inaugurated the state-of-the-art and first in India, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) with a vision to establish the Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (R4C) in the States. Alongside the establishment of the I4C at Delhi, the Minister also launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Under the I4C, the Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) will initiate various steps, to include capacity building and public awareness against cyber crime. The Ministry will also be tasked to coordinate with other countries on cyber crime aspects.
The I4C setup under the ambit of Union Home Affairs Ministry, will have seven components, namely:
- National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU).
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
- National Cyber Crime Training Centre.
- Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit (CEMU).
- National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre.
- National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory (NCFL).
- Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team.
Subsequently, the states will establish the Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centres (R4C). Presently, 15 States and UTs have given their consent to set up the R4C at respective States/UTs.
The Portal “www.cybercrime.gov.in”, was also launched to enable citizens to report cyber crimes online, and also will be the single point to receive advice and provide assistance. “MHA is committed to provide and create an ecosystem for dealing with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. In future, this portal will provide for a chatbot for automated interactive assistance system to the public for guidance on cybercrime prevention and how to report incidents on the portal,” said a press release.
This Portal also allows users to report all cyber crimes with specific focus on crimes against women, children, particularly child pornography, child sex abuse material, online content pertaining to rapes/gang rapes, etc. The pilot project that was earlier launched in August 2019, will now enable over 700 police districts and more than 3,900 police stations to connect over the portal. Other forms of crime will also be included in a phased manner. This portal will improve coordination amongst the law enforcement agencies of different States, districts and police stations for dealing with cyber crimes in a coordinated and effective manner.
NCTAU will be responsible to analyse all sorts of information relating to cyber crimes. From the NCTAU, cyber crime trends and threat perceptions will be inferred. The NCFL with modern tools and with well qualified staffs will handle the Forensic requirements of the complete scheme. Through the CEMU the MHA will develop ‘cyberdosts’ and reach out to the citizens to make the system more vibrant and friendly.