India Steps Up Cyber Security To Fight Terror, Hacks & Data Theft

Two new divisions have been created out of existing divisions under the Home Ministry to tackle cyber security

India ranks No 1, for users infected with Ransomware, in the world

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube screengrab)

The Union home ministry created new divisions to check radicalisation and cyber fraud as part of a major rejig of some of its wings.

Home Ministry officials said that two new divisions – Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR), and Cyber and Information Security (CIS) – have been created.

The home ministry added that the CTCR division will try to devise quick strategies for de-radicalisation, and to check terrorism.

It will prepare action plans to combat terrorism and radicalisation with definite deliverables and timelines, officials said.

Threats to internal security from increased radicalisation, mostly online, and terrorism are growing. The new wing will focus on assessing the reach of global terrorist outfits besides shaping strategies to counter their activities.

Union Home Ministry

According to Forbes (which cites a report by Comparitech), India has the highest number of users subjected to ransomware attacks, at 9.6 percent of all computer users. The other new wing, Cyber and Information Security (CIS) , has been created to monitor similar crimes and threats online, including cyber fraud and hacking, and suggest ways to minimise and fight them.

Officials added that the CIS division will try to track and counter online fraud, hacking, identity theft, activities on the darknet, trafficking, and cyber attacks on critical information infrastructure. 

The Home Ministry has also reconstituted and merged several divisions as part of the new cyber security effort.

At present, the home ministry has three divisions to handle internal security – Internal Security I, II, and III (or IS-I, IS-II and IS-III).

The home ministry has merged its Internal Security-I and Internal Security-III divisions, besides modifying the work of the IS-II division, which will now be known as the CTCR.

The existing International Cooperation division, which deals with matters related to international/bilateral security issues such as Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, has been merged with the Coordination and Public Grievances division. A new wing –Coordination and International Cooperation – has been carved out of them. 

Similarly, the judicial wing has been merged with the Centre-State division. The judicial division deals with matters relating to legislative aspects of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Commission of Inquiry Act.

The Centre-State wing looks after the work related to Constitutional provisions governing such relations, like the appointment of governors, creation of new states, nominations to Rajya Sabha/Lok Sabha, inter-state boundary disputes, overseeing the crime situation in states and imposition of President's rule.

The ministry will continue to have 18 divisions, each led by a joint secretary-level officer.

(With inputs from PTI)