18 cyber forensic labs commissioned in India, more in pipeline

By Rajnish Singh

New Delhi [India], July 23 (ANI): To combat cybercrimes, including financial frauds and crimes relating to women with enhanced use of cyberspace, 18 cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned across the country and more are under progress covering all states and Union Territories (UTs), informed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Friday.

Among the states where these cyber forensic cum training laboratories have been commissioned are Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, said sources, adding the facilities are set up or in its final stage in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Delhi.

Besides, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has set up cyber forensic training labs in Ghaziabad (CBI Academy), Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Kerala, Uttarakhand and all north-eastern states for training in cybercrime detection, seizing, preservation and imaging of digital evidence.

Using these facilities, more than 28,000 police and LEA personnel and about 1,000 judicial officers have been trained. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has provided financial assistance to all the states and the UTs under Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) scheme to support their efforts for setting up cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, training, and hiring of junior cyber consultants.

The Central government has taken steps for spreading awareness about cyber crimes, issuance of alerts and advisories, capacity building and training of law enforcement personnel, prosecutors and judicial officers for improving cyber forensic facilities. Newly-appointed Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra recently informed the Lok Sabha about the move, mentioning “18 forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned across the country”.

States and the UTs are primarily responsible for setting up facilities and laboratories for cyber forensic training. The MHA has provided grant of Rs 93.12 crore in 2019 to all the states and the UTs under Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) scheme, to set up cyber forensic cum training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and training/capacity building to provide hands-on training to LEAs personnel, prosecutors and judicial officers. The amount was later increased as per needs every year.

The MHA officials said forensic-cum-training laboratories are targeted to be set up in all the states and the UTs as they are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cybercrime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).

“The LEAs take legal action as per provisions of law against the offenders. The Central government supplements the initiatives of the state governments through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for their capacity building,” said the officials. MHA has prepared three to five days training programmes for law enforcement agencies personnel, prosecutors and judicial officers for better handling of investigation and prosecution and requested state governments and UTs to organise training programmes.

So far, more than 10,000 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cybercrime awareness, investigation, forensics under the CCPWC scheme, an official told ANI. The MHA has also established the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. (ANI)