Amit Shah on tackling cyber fraud, inaugurates new CBI Cybercrime Branch

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a national conference on tackling cybercrime, inaugurating a new CBI Cybercrime Branch. He emphasized multi-agency coordination and launched the S4C dashboard to dismantle the cyber fraud ecosystem.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, delivered a keynote address at the National Conference on "Tackling Cyber-Enabled Frauds and Dismantling the Ecosystem" in New Delhi, on Tuesday. The Home Minister presided over an Investiture Ceremony of CBI Officers and inaugurated the New Cybercrime Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Amit Shah also launched State Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (S4C) dashboard of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, according to a release.

On this occasion, Union Home Secretary, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Director, CBI and other senior officers were present.

A Coordinated Multi-Agency Effort

In his keynote address, Amit Shah congratulated the CBI and the I4C for organising this important conference. He said that multiple government agencies are working together in a coordinated manner to prevent cybercrime.

Amit Shah said that I4C, State Police forces, the CBI, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Department of Telecommunications, the banking sector, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the judiciary are collectively making every possible effort to curb cybercrime. He emphasized that each institution has a critical role and responsibility, and that close coordination among all stakeholders is essential to achieve the desired outcomes.

Shah said that the initiative by the CBI and I4C as extremely significant, adding that it will help connect various government departments and agencies with one another and ensure effective implementation of their efforts, which will lead to the expected success.

Digital India's Unprecedented Growth

Union Home Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the journey of 'Digital India' over the past 11 years has been remarkable. He pointed out that 11 years ago, the country had only 250 million internet users, whereas today India has crossed 1 billion internet users, reaching new heights in the digital domain. Broadband connections have increased nearly 16 times and have also surpassed the 1-billion mark, according to a release.

Shah said that the cost of one gigabyte of data has declined by 97 per cent, which has significantly expanded both internet access and usage. He said that the rise in the number of internet users and the connectivity of Parliament to Panchayats through BharatNet is a remarkable achievement of Digital India. Under the BharatNet project, only 546 village panchayats were connected 11 years ago, while today more than 200,000 village panchayats have been brought under the project. He also informed about the unprecedented growth in UPI transactions, stating that in 2024 alone, India recorded more than 181 billion digital transactions with a total value exceeding Rs 233 trillion, according to the release.

Evolving Threats and the Call for Stronger Action

Amit Shah said that cybersecurity is no longer limited to economic security, but now it has become an integral part of national security. Home Minister said that, therefore, safeguarding economic, social, administrative, and national security dimensions, while continuing to advance the digital revolution, is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders.

Amit Shah said that since its establishment in January 2019, the I4C under the Ministry of Home Affairs has successfully created a strong and comprehensive cyber infrastructure across the country. He noted that I4C has also established effective and seamless coordination among various government agencies. He said that essential cyber infrastructure has been developed in different parts of the country, enabling the initiation of timely, effective, and decisive action against cyber criminals.

Home Minister said that the time has now come to build upon these achievements and attain the desired level of success. He added that in terms of action against cybercriminals, criminal justice processes, and money recovery cases, we have definitely made progress, but there is still a need to strengthen many dimensions more effectively.

Amit Shah said that cybercrime, which was earlier carried out at an individual level, is now being executed in an institutionalized manner. Cyber criminals are continuously evolving their methods by using various kinds of advanced technologies. He said that it is the collective responsibility of representatives of all agencies and departments engaged in combating cybercrime to deeply understand their challenges and commit to minimizing vulnerabilities at every possible level.

Home Minister called for concrete and coordinated efforts to make the fight against cybercrime more effective, the release added. (ANI)

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