About the event
Under the aegis of the ‘Digital India’ movement, India is presently going through a massive digital revolution wherein it is targeted that every household and citizen shall have access to internet services and other benefits of digitalization. This is a significant step towards competing with other developed countries and becoming ‘aatmanirbhar’.
However, with increasing dependency on internet services for daily activities such as banking, communication, traveling etc., people have become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and cyber-frauds. The most vulnerable of all are children, older generations and the less literate who need to be made aware of the term ‘Cybercrime’.
In general, Cybercrime may be defined as “any unlawful act where a computer or communication device or computer network is used to commit or facilitate the commission of a crime”[1]. As defined by the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, types of cybercrimes include producing/circulating/undertaking/supporting child pornography/child sexually abusive material, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, cyber grooming, online job fraud, online sextortion, vishing, sexting, SMShing, sim swap scam, debit/credit card fraud, impersonation and identity theft, phishing, spamming, ransomware, virus, worms, trojans, data breach, denial of services/distributed DOS, website defacement, cybersquatting, pharming, crypto-jacking, online drug trafficking and espionage.
In order to increase awareness about this threat, and make the general public more aware of the different ways in which they may become victims of cybercrime, the National School of Drama (NSD) has chosen a local theatre group ‘Steps for Change’ who will be showcasing a production on cybercrime and how to prevent the same, in the form of nukkad nataks at Kartavya Path, New Delhi, on 13th and 14th November 2022. The play revolves around how fraudsters lure common and innocent people and can protect themselves from any action against their financial and cyber frauds, depicting the safety measures people should take.
This being the prevailing issue and the biggest threat to society in current times in society, a lot of awareness and sensitization is required amongst the masses.
Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) shall present a fusion music band, who will through their music try to make the people aware of this menace. On the second amphitheater stage, there will be a live portrait sketching session in which the 10 participating artists will use different media like pencil sketching, watercolour, charcoal sketching, etc., to give some members of the audience a chance to have their portraits done by empanelled artists of Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA).
Cyber-fraud cases in India over the years
Cyber security in India is being given utmost importance today. With the majority of the population embracing digitization, the country has witnessed a surge in cybercrime cases as well. A total of 17,115 cases have been registered under cybercrimes, showing a decline of 8.3% over 2020 (18,657). The cybercrime rate has declined from 16.4 in 2020 to 15.0 in 2021. Crime head-wise cases revealed that Computer Related Offences (8,513 cases) formed the highest number of cybercrimes accounting for 49.7% during 2021[2]. The cybercrime reporting portal which was launched on 30th August 2019 has registered more than 15 lakh complaints so far. With time and increasing digitization, these figures are estimated to rise. Hence, the Government is strengthening its policies and introducing schemes to safeguard the masses.
Cyber security related initiates and schemes of the Government of India
This event is inspired by the ongoing efforts of the Government of India in the area of cyber-security. Some schemes introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs to generate awareness about cybercrimes and measures that can be taken to prevent exploitation will be highlighted.
- I4C Scheme: I4C or Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre has been launched to act as a nodal point in the fight against cybercrime and strengthen the capabilities of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAS). The components of I4C are -
- National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (TAU)
- National Cybercrime Reporting Portal
- Platform for Joint Cybercrime Investigation Team
- National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory (NCFL)
- National Cybercrime Training Centre (NCTC)
- Cybercrime Ecosystem Management Unit
- National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: This portal is an initiative of the Government of India to facilitate victims/complainants to report cybercrime complaints online. This portal caters all types of cybercrime complaints https://cybercrime.gov.in/. The Ministry has also uploaded audio transcripts titled ‘Internet Safety Tips for Kids on Email Scam and Phishing’, ‘Identity Theft’, ‘Obscene Content’, and ‘Online Scam or Fraud’ on this portal.
- Establishment of National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) for protection of critical information infrastructure in the country
- Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) has been launched for providing detection of malicious programs and free tools to remove such programs.
In addition, the Government has announced a national helpline number 1930 which can be used to register cybercrime-related complaints. Social media handle such as ‘Cyberdost’ attempt to educate people on cybercrimes and guide them towards preventing such mishaps and on methods to report and tackle the crime.
[1] https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/CrimeCatDes.aspx
[2] https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/CII-2021/CII_2021Volume%201.pdf