Helpline for Cyber Fraud | 18 Jun 2021

Why in News

The Ministry of Home Affairs has operationalised the national Helpline 155260 and Reporting Platform for preventing financial loss due to cyber fraud. The helpline was soft-launched on 1st April.

  • The National Helpline and Reporting Platform provides a mechanism for persons cheated in cyber frauds to report such cases to prevent loss of their hard earned money.
  • Also, a National Cyber Security Strategy 2020 is being formulated by the Office of National Cyber Security Coordinator at the National Security Council Secretariat.

Cyber Security

  • Cyber Security is protecting cyber space including critical information infrastructure from attack, damage, misuse and economic espionage.
  • Critical Information Infrastructure: According to Section 70(1) of the Information Technology Act, CII is defined as a “computer resource, the incapacitation or destruction of which, shall have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health or safety”.
  • Cyber Fraud: It is the crime committed via a computer with the intent to corrupt another individual’s personal and financial information stored online.
    • It is the most common type of fraud and individuals and organisations need to be vigilant and protect their information from fraudsters.

Key Points

  • About:
    • The helpline has been made operational by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), in coordination with the Reserve Bank of India, all major banks, payment banks, wallets and online merchants.
    • The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System has been developed by I4C to integrate Law Enforcement Agencies and Banks and Financial Intermediaries.
    • The facility empowers both the banks and the police, by leveraging new-age technologies for sharing online fraud related information and taking action in almost real time.
    • Since its soft launch, in a short span of two months, the helpline has assisted in saving more than Rs 1.85 crore.
  • Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre:
    • The scheme to set up I4C was approved in October 2018, to deal with all types of cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
    • It has seven components:
      • National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit
      • National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
      • National Cyber Crime Training Centre
      • Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit
      • National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre
      • National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem
      • Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team.
    • 15 States and Union Territories have given their consent to set up Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centres.
    • This state-of-the-art Centre is located in New Delhi.
  • Other Initiatives to Tackle Cybercrime:
    • Draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 (based on the recommendation of Justice BN Srikrishna Committee) to secure citizens data.
    • Cyber Swachhta Kendra: The "Cyber Swachhta Kendra" (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) is a part of the Government of India's Digital India initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
    • Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN): It is an organisation of the MeitY, with the objective of securing Indian cyberspace. It is the nodal agency which deals with cybersecurity threats like hacking and phishing.
  • Related International Convention (Budapest Convention):
    • The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Cybercrime Convention, also known as the Budapest Convention is the sole legally binding international multilateral treaty on cybercrime. It coordinates cybercrime investigations between nation-states and criminalizes certain cybercrime conduct.
    • It was opened for signature in 2001 and came into force in 2004.
    • The Budapest Convention is supplemented by a Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism committed through computer systems.
    • India is not a party to it. India recently voted in favour of a Russian-led UN resolution to set up a separate convention. The resolution seeks to set up new cyber norms considered as a counter alternative to the US backed Budapest Accord.

Source: TH