CBI tie-up with Asian countries to fight cyber crime

Thursday, 06 February 2003, 20:30 IST   |    1 Comments
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NEW DELHI: India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will soon begin online networking with nine Asian countries to crack down on hacking, fraud and cyber terrorism. The 10-country initiative will also explore ways to fight rampant cyber crimes by sharing information on crime technologies and criminals. "We will now have access to state-of-the art technology for cyber crime investigation after we connect to the nine Asian countries through a Cyber Crime Technology Information Network System (CTINS)," CBI spokesman G. Mohanty said. The other members of the network, which was initiated by the National Police Agency of Japan, include China, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Information on all cyber-related crimes, which have increased rapidly in the last few years, would be shared through a Virtual Private Network. "This network will facilitate online sharing of information on cyber crime technologies used by criminals and advancement of technologies to fight such crimes," Mohanty said. The CBI is buoyed by Wednesday's cyber crime conviction of a 24-year-old Delhi-based engineer who was using a U.S. citizen's credit card for online purchases. The case marks the first conviction for a cyber crime in India. The federal investigation agency, which is currently working on six other cyber-related crimes, had set up a separate cell to tackle online offences, a growing concern in India, in 2000. It is currently also working on a case in association with America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The CBI cell is a contact point of Interpol for reporting cyber crimes committed in India. It has also been notified by G-8 (Group of Eight) countries for assistance in investigation of crimes related to cyber terrorism after the September 11 attacks in U.S. in 2001. Mohanty said: "The cyber crime investigation cell has an elaborate plan to launch extensive Net patrolling for identification of criminals operating through the Internet". He said the agency is also gearing up to tackle cases of hacking and online fraud, which have national and international ramifications. Crimes on the Net include cyber stalking, Internet hour theft, cyber blackmail, extortion, site hijacking, credit card theft, running of paedophilic websites and data theft. Officials say computers are being used directly or as an "incidental ingredient" in a variety of crimes, including defamation of individuals and nations, hacking, e-mail espionage, corporate espionage, extortion by website developers and credit card fraud. CBI director P.C. Sharma has ordered the agency's cyber crime cell to share information and expertise with the police in all states in view of a sharp rise in such crimes. "There is a proposal to create 66 additional posts at various levels for the cell," Mohanty said.
Source: IANS
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