Need for central agency on cyber crimes: Study

Amid rising instances of cyber crimes, a dedicated central agency should be set up for all state government agencies to coordinate, integrate and share information related to such crimes, a study has recommended.
Besides, a centralised database of cybercriminals should be maintained to keep a check and discourage them from engaging in spurious activities in cyberspace, the joint study by Assocham-EY has suggested.
"Such a central agency will be responsible for driving all initiatives related to cybercrime prevention like collaboration with private sector, training cybersecurity professionals and spreading awareness across the country," the study pointed out.
The study has also recommended collaboration with International Cyber Security Protection Alliance, such as the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), National Crime Agency's National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) and the UK's CEOP to help in adoption of best practices by other countries for prevention of cybercrime.

The study has suggested to nurture and engage cybercrime professionals to be deployed across states with access to dedicated laboratories for analysis in each state, thereby making them part of police team investigating cybercrimes.
The study has further noted that much needs to be done to realise the objective of government's cybersecurity strategy as various initiatives and roadmaps listed in the same fall short of addressing a broad set of issues and challenges vis-a-vis complexity of cybercrime.
"Global practices from mature law enforcement organisations like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol need to be leveraged and adopted as per their feasibility as part of Indian cybercrime strategy," it said.