All four convicted under IT Act in India are from AP: says top cop

Need more punitive action against cyber security violators, say experts

While 4,356 (including 635 in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh) cyber crimes were registered nationally since the IT Act came into force, 2,098 persons (296 in AP) were arrested.

Of these, only four were convicted under the IT Act, and all the four were from AP, according to T Krishna Prasad, additional director-general (crime investigation), Telangana government.

Delivering his special address at a conference on 'Cyber security: Counter measures to face the threats' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Friday, he said more punitive action was required to deal with cyber security violators.

This issue has not been addressed by the National Cyber Security Policy of 2013. All the state governments, including Telangana, should take this up with the Centre, he added.

"No single investigating agency can handle this cyber security threat especially in the current scenario where we have 134 ISPs (Internet service providers), 100 million Internet users and 1,000 million mobile users. We need to have coordinated efforts between the industry and investigation agencies. Also, the industry should share the tools that they develop to counter cyber security threats with the police, free of cost," Prasad said.

Stating that the crime investigation department (CID) already had a cyber crime cell and a lab in Hyderabad, he said the CID was currently training officers at the district level in tackling cyber crime and that the department was contemplating setting up cyber labs in every district of Telangana.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, KT Rama Rao, IT and panchayat raj minister, Telangana, said the industry should collaborate with the government in tackling cyber crime. "We need to collaborate with private players in the area of cyber security," he said.

According to R Srinivasa Rao, Hyderabad centre head, Wipro Limited, and convenor, CII Andhra Pradesh ICT panel, cyber fraudsters were increasingly targeting small and medium enterprises. "To mitigate risks, companies should focus more on newer technologies," he said.