THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala accounted for the third highest cybercrime rate in the country during the 2022-24 period with 7,030 cases registered, the National Crime Records Bureau’s ‘Crime in India’ report for 2024 has revealed. Kerala registered a crime rate of 8.2 per lakh population and came in behind just Karnataka (32.2) and Telangana (71.1).
In 2022, 773 cases were registered in Kerala. This quadrupled to 3,295 in 2023, before dipping to 2,962 in 2024.
The majority of cyber cases registered in 2024 were for cheating by impersonation by using computer resource (1,012). Cases were also filed for publication of sexually explicit acts and materials in electronic format (201), violation of privacy (31), cyber terrorism (2), identity theft (39), offences other than ransomware (25) and for tampering computer source documents (4).
Police registered 45 cases for cyber bullying against women and children in 2024, while 11 cases were registered for having sexual intercourse by deceitful means.
The report also cited the motives behind launching cyber attacks. Sexual exploitation was the motive in 225 cases, while in 11 cases political motive was reported. In 70 cases, the motive was personal revenge, while 16 cases were driven by emotional factors. Extortion was reported in 49 cases, while five cases were for playing pranks.
The number of cases that were convicted stood at 18, while four cases were discharged in 2024. In 58 cases, there were convictions. The conviction rate stood at 22.5, which was less than the national average of 57.3.