Vizag needs hi-tech lab to crack cyber crime

VISAKHAPATNAM: Even as a major thrust is being given to cashless transactions following the demonetisation, aspects of safety of cards and online transactions are still a concern due to the lack of a cyber crime police station with a high-tech lab in the city that can be of help to users in case of phishing, vishing or other sorts of misuse.

The port city has the dubious distinction of recording the highest number of cyber crimes in Andhra Pradesh. As many as 267 cyber crime cases were reported in Vizag in 2015 and this year too the number is high, according to cyber cell sources. About 90 cases related to vishing in 2015 besides a few phishing attacks. Not only illiterate, but highly educated have fallen victim to cyber crimes in the city.

However, a majority of these cyber cases are unresolved as the cyber cell in the city lacks trained manpower and a hi-tech lab that can retrieve evidence immediately from emails, websites, chatrooms and databases and also trace law violations via desktops, laptops as well as mobile phones, for quick action.

Some cyber labs use cyber check tools that can recover lost data while a mail tracker can help enter an email account without a password. Cyber cops say people should change their ATM or online PIN frequently. Many people keep using the same PIN for years, which is one of the main reasons for security breach.

“Cyber crimes are not easy to crack like other cases. It requires trained manpower and an advanced lab. The cyber cases could be detected in a quick time once an advanced lab is set up,” said Cyber police station circle inspector K. Satyanarayana.

Former bureaucrat E.A.S. Sarma said he had written a letter to the Ministry of Finance saying cyber criminals are more likely to exploit those who are not fully familiar with the vulnerabilities of online transactions. This is more so using mobile communication systems.

“I have urged the government to first publish the findings of the forensic audit on debit card hacking and the steps taken to plug the loopholes,” he added.
He also expressed worry as personal data of the people are getting into the hands of private agencies through Aadhaar route.

1 per cent cops aware about cyber crimes: DGP
Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh N. Sambasiva Rao said on Monday that the state has a 65,000-strong police force, but he doubted whether at least one per cent of the cops was having any awareness about cyber crimes.

The top cop was inaugurating a the seven-day workshop on Cyber Security and Ethical Hacking, organised by the department of computer science and systems engineering at the Andhra University College of Engineering.

The DGP said over 99 per cent of the cops in the for-ce were not trained to inv-estigate into or deal with cyber crimes. Ironically, some of the top companies are unable to deal with the hacking and other cyber crimes.

A high-end cyber crime lab — which will have all the facilities to detect various types of cyber crimes, track cyber criminals and have the components of cyber foren-sic technology — will be set up in Vizag city at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore.