Those who do not want to see India safe attempt cyber attacks: Union Home Minister Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said those who do not want to see India safe attempt various types of cyber attacks and some countries have even created cyber armies.

Addressing a conference on 'cyber safety and national security', Shah, however, said the central government is fully alert to deal with any such threats and is also upgrading itself to prevent all kinds of cyber attacks.

"The cyber security is also linked with the national security in a way. Those who do not want to see our country safe, also attempt various types of cyber attacks. Some nations have even created cyber armies," he said.

The home minister said many new dimensions of cyber frauds will be seen in the coming days and the country has to make many preparations in terms of cyber space security. He said that cyber security is integral to national security and the Narendra Modi government is committed to making it robust.

"We all know how important is cyber security and how it can contribute for the development of India. India's progress is not possible without cyber security. Cyber security is integral to the national security and the Modi government is committed to making it robust," he said.

The home minister said that everyone knows that the misuse of cyber space is not new and various kinds of cyber crimes are seen very often that include malware attacks, phishing, attacks on critical infrastructure, data theft, online economic frauds, child pornography among others.

Such crimes are expected to increase in the coming days, he said. He said the questions of privacy of citizens are already there and everyone has to be more careful in the context of critical information security.

"Both data and information are going to become a huge economic force in the coming days, so we have to prepare ourselves for the security of data and information. Shah also cited the data on the increasing number of cyber crimes being reported in the country," he said.

"In 2012, a total of 3,377 cyber crimes were reported and it has gone up to 50,000 in 2020. The number of cyber crimes which were not reported could be in lakhs. We are resolved to create the most secured cyber atmosphere in the world," he said.

The home minister said the Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a cyber crimes reporting portal about three years ago and so far, 11 lakh different kinds of cyber crimes have been reported there. Besides, he said, there were over two lakh social media complaints which were registered on the portal.

"This is going to increase in the coming days, because currently, 80 crore Indians are active online. This is a big number and as the prices of data go down, there will be more users," he said. Shah said the government wants to progress in digitisation but at the same time, ensure a secured cyber place in India.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision is to make every Indian technologically empowered and due to digitisation, there has been empowerment and technological advancement. The home minister said because of technology, 130 crore people in the country are getting benefits through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.

"For a country like India, this is a big revolution. Before 2014, we just could not think about it as there there were 60 crore families in the country who did not have any bank account. Forget about transferring benefits digitally, they did not even have a bank account," he said.

Shah said for getting benefits, people had to run from pillar to post and also face corruption. But now, by clicking a button, the prime minister can transfer Rs 6,000 each to 13 crore families which is a big development and at the same time, a challenge too. "There is a big challenge before us to protect the country from cyber frauds and other cyber challenges," he said.