**Bhubaneswar:** The dimensions of cybercrime are expanding rapidly. While instances of cybercrimes such as website defacement or social media impersonation are commonplace, the police forces need to be alert and equipped to handle large scale cybercrime through which huge amount money is siphoned from banks, DG Police, Goa, Muktesh Chander said.
Addressing media persons on the sidelines of the 61st Senior Police Officers Conference here on Friday, Chander said that at one point of time we will have to worry about cyber warfare and attack on critical information infrastructure of our country using the cyber space. “This has happened abroad, and there is no reason it would not happen in India,” he warned.
The police force needs to be well trained with state-of-the-art technology and keep themselves updated with the fast changing world of cybercrime, he added.
“I was happy to note that a lot officers are aware of cyber related issues, they have social media labs, technologies. But I keep on stressing that the cybercrime world is dynamic which is borderless,” said Chander.
The most important challenge today is cyber-attack on financial institutions. Pune’s Cosmos Bank’s server was hacked and Rs 94 crore was siphoned off in two days. Very small amount of money could be recovered and very few of the culprits were arrested. Energy and transport sectors which are dependent on computer system and internet are vulnerable.
There is a full set of spectrum of cyber security precaution organisations need to adopt to keep them secured. Starting from the basic username and password security to earmarking a budget, cyber hygiene needs to be maintained, added Chander, who holds a Ph.D. in Information Security Management from IIT Delhi.
Chander has served as the Centre Director Cyber Division and National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre in NTRO. He was invited to the police conference as a special guest to deliver a lecture on cybercrime.