Curbing cybercrimes

The National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) Report for the year 2022 reports a surge of 24.4 per cent in cybercrimes.

A total of 65,893 cybercrime cases were registered across the country during 2022 against 52,974 cases in 2021. Cyber fraud constituted majority of these cases—64.8 per cent), followed by extortion (5.5%), and sexual exploitation (5.2 per cent).

Cybercrimes have witnessed a steady spike in the recent years. If the NCRB data is any yardstick, there has been more than fivefold rise in cybercrimes from 12,317 cases in 2016 to 65,893 cases in 2022.

While the increase may appear a giant leap, there should be no surprise given the vast expansion of the increased connectivity, expanding fintech network and induction of computer and related technology in banking, accounting, financial transaction, communication and all data related work.

Spurt is directly proportional to the reliance on digital devices and network. Cybercrimes is mostly defined as unauthorised access to some computer system without the permission of the legitimate owner and all activities that range from credit card fraud to online transaction fraud, cyber defamation, hacking of systems or websites, child pornography etc.

These may include phishing, spoofing, and denial of service (DoS) attacks. Although cyber laws and security apparatus have been in place, much of the crimes in the sector are attributable to limited capacity of enforcement agencies.

Cyberpolice find themselves helpless as they find their workforce deficient of personnel with required talent, wherewithal to track the cyber criminals and the enforcement.

While the connectivity and dependence on digital device has seen exponential growth, commensurate upgradation in training and resources of the departments tackling these crimes is conspicuous by absence.

Increased used of social media technologies has only come in handy to target a large pool of victims. Low digital literacy among users of the networked media and understaffed cyber police and cross border nature of crime work only help the criminals to operate fearlessly in a domain that has expanded limitlessly.

It is imperative for the Centre and States not merely to work in tandem, but also frame statutory guidelines to facilitate investigation.