Cyber crimes rise in India

**By APD Writer

Rishika Chauhan**

NEW DELHI, September 10 (APD)— According to experts cybercrime is growing at an alarming rate in India and could rise by 10% by the end of the year.

“Cybercrime has grown to an alarming extent since note ban. As a country we have failed to address the issue”, said Pawan Duggal, cyber expert and Supreme Court lawyer.

Data released by the Information and Technology (IT) ministry shows that more than 27,000 cybercrimes were reported in first half of 2017. While in 2016, the figure had stood at 50,362. Extrapolating the 2017 data, it was found that there would be a 10% increase in cybercrimes, which is the highest in recent years.

The average increase in cybercrimes in the past three years was below 1.5%. The recent unprecedented increase is being attributed to Prime Minister Modi’s demonetisation policy.

Speaking to the media, another expert from the Indian Institute of Technology said,“Almost all financial institutions, banks and online transactions are vulnerable to cybercrime. Digital wallets such as Paytm and BHIM, which gained prominence after demonetisation, were found unsafe during research.”

Digital transactions increased from Rs 712.7 million in October 2016 to Rs 1,235 million in the next two months after demonetization.

To control the situation, the government has issued 21 advisories for securing mediums of digital transactions like ATM and credit cards. Speaking on the topic, IT minister P.P Chaudhary had earlier informed the Parliament that there was rise in cyber frauds in India, however it wasn’t an uncommon phenomenon and was happening everywhere in the world.

Meanwhile, the government has proposed an Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, named I4C.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)