* Cyber Forensic Lab-cum-Training Centre & Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting & Management System inaugurated
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Assam Police have received a major boost in its effort to effectively tackle increasing incidents of cybercrime in the State with the inauguration of the Cyber Forensic Lab-cum-Training Centre and launching of the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting & Management System.
Director-General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta inaugurated the schemes at a solemn function held at the CID headquarters here on Monday. Mahanta said it is a momentous occasion for the Assam Police and the force will be able to meet new challenges that emerged from cyberspace successfully in the coming days.
IGP of CID Surendra Kumar speaking on the occasion said the Cyber Forensic Laboratory is part of the CCPWC (Cybercrime Prevention Against Women and Children) Scheme, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. He said the lab has been set up at the cost of nearly Rs 3.93 crore to ensure proper collection and preservation of digital evidence related to cybercrime.
Kumar said the lab is equipped with cyber forensic tools, disk forensics, GPS forensics, malware analyzer, mobile forensic and various other applications/tools for extraction, imaging, data recovery, password recovery and analysis of digital devices. Further, the Lab also has a training facility with 25 workstations to impart training to police personnel on cybercrime investigation.
According to Singh, a large number of people lose money due to financial cyber frauds. But by the time police receives the information, it becomes late to block the amount as the defrauded money already reaches the fraudsters. Given the above constraint, a 24X7 help desk has been set up with helpline number 155260 in CID headquarters.
If any victim of financial cyber fraud would, without delay, call this number, and would provide required details (name, mobile number, name of bank/ wallet/ merchant from which amount has been debited, bank account number/wallet ID/ merchant ID/ UPI ID from which amount has been debited, transaction ID and date, debit/credit card number wherever applicable) then the operator of help desk of CID immediately uploads the details on the "Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud reporting & Management System". The concerned bank/ wallet/merchant, which is also part of the portal, receive the information after the details are entered by the operator. If the money has not left the system, then it is blocked by the concerned Bank/ financial intermediary. An automatic message would be generated and sent to the complainant to lodge a formal complaint at www.cybercrime.gov.in. within 24 hours.
During Monday's function, the DGP also distributed cybercrime first responder kits among officials of police stations in Greater Guwahati. Altogether 24 such kits were procured at the cost of Rs 33 crore. These kits will be distributed to 245 police stations in Assam with high reporting of cybercrime cases. The investigating police teams would take these portable kits with them to the scene of the crime and take the aid of highly advanced tools and applications for identification, collection and preservation of digital evidence. The applications and tools are states of the art in terms of functions, sophistication and efficacy. These portable kits use the latest technology in dealing with cybercrimes and the cost of a single kit is Rs 13 lakh. Each kit comes with mobile forensic tools, forensic data preview and imaging tool, one laptop, high-speed SSD drive 256GB, two external hard drive, digital camera, forensic media card reader, faraday/ anti-static bags and many other tools/applications.
However, for the use of these kits, one -weeklong hands-on training for 25 police officers per batch in 10 batches will be imparted by a team of experts from Mumbai. After the training, the police officers will take the kits to their respective police stations. The training of the first batch has commenced from Monday.
The DGP said several activities in cyberspace by unscrupulous elements have posed threat to the country's sovereignty, integrity, peace & tranquillity. He said such cyber activities have also disturbed the privacy of individuals, families and infringe the rights of individuals.
"With the inauguration of Cyber Forensic Lab-cum-Training Center, launching of Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting& Management System and distribution of cyber-crime first responder kits the Assam Police will achieve remarkable success in tackling cybercrimes," Mahanta said.
Also Read: Honest Assam Police Constable to Get Instant Promotion to Inspector Rank: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma