The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Cyber crime probes set to go hi-tech

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Friday, Aug 29, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Cyber crime probes set to go hi-tech

S. Vijay Kumar

Senior officials coordinating with NASSCOM

— Photo: K. V. Srinivasan

CREATING AWARENESS: Chennai City Police Commissioner R. Sekar releasing the ‘Be Net Smart’ booklet at a function organised by Google India in Chennai on Thursday. Google Policy Analyst Rishi S. Jaitly (left) and senior principal of Chettinad Vidyashram Meena Muthiah are in the picture.

CHENNAI: Investigation of cyber crimes is set to have new standards with the Chennai police planning to tap the expertise of the IT sector.

The move is expected to give a new dimension to handling of cyber crimes, as the police will have with them the best of knowledge and service providers.

Police sources said senior officials were coordinating with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) on how the IT sector could enrich the cyber crime police intellectually.

“While seeking expert opinion from IT firms, we also want the police to update their knowledge by closely interacting and working with software professionals. Considering the variety of cases that are getting reported, it has become imperative for the cyber crime police to strengthen their investigating skills,” Additional Director-General of Police and Commissioner R. Sekar told The Hindu.

He said steps would be taken to train the police in IT solutions to crimes. Together with Google India and Internet and the Mobile Association of India, the police had embarked on a mission to educate school children on ‘safe surfing.’

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crimes) M. Sudhakar said the next step would be to involve financial institutions, as hacking of websites and cracking of passwords could pave the way for crimes in the banking sector.

“We want to enhance security standards in vulnerable areas by taking the support of IT experts. The number of cyber crime cases, which stood at 347 in 2006, almost doubled the next year.”

Later in the day, Mr. Sekar took part in a campaign organised at Chettinad Vidyashram School to educate the students on Internet safety. He said the police had a role to play in sensitising the students to the do’s and don’ts while accessing the Internet.

Rishi S. Jaitly, Google’s Policy Analyst, said the campaign was to celebrate the positive potential of the Internet and to educate children on how to make the best use of the Internet and its applications.

India was the only country where Google had taken an initiative to educate students on safe surfing methods through its campaign ‘Be Net Smart.’

Google was keen on ensuring that the content loaded by users on its websites complied with its standards. “We rely on our users. At least 13 hours of video is uploaded on YouTube every minute, and it is practically impossible to monitor every minute input.”

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