HYDERABAD: The Centre of Excellence for Cyber Safety (CoECS) of the Telangana police, a one-of-a-kind initiative to secure the cyber ecosystem of the State, was on Saturday inaugurated by IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao in the presence of Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali, DGP M Mahender Reddy, IT Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, the three police commissioners and other dignitaries.
Speaking at the event, Rama Rao said: “New-age crimes need new-age solutions. During the Munugodu byelection we realised that voters were lured with money transferred through digital payments. The Election Commission also needs to be sensitised on this matter. We live in a world where technology is everywhere; devices outnumber the population. We are living in a connected world where devices talk between themselves. Under these circumstances, cyber security is a huge challenge.”
He added that cybercrime is no longer confined to big cities but has spread to small and remote places. “We need to promote awareness and we need institutions like this Centre of Excellence,” he said.
Mahmood Ali said: “64% of the total CCTVs in India are in the State. Though there are not many crimes being reported in Telangana, most of our citizens are falling victim to cybercriminals operating from outside it.”
Mahender Reddy said there are no crimes without digital components and there are no individuals who are not impacted. “Our goal is to keep Telangana safe in terms of the cy-ber ecosystem. The command control which was inaugurated some time ago will have dozens of Centres of Excellence,” he said.
Jayesh Ranjan said the initiative was another feather in the cap of Telangana police. He urged the Cyberabad commissioner to collaborate with other government CoEs.
Stephen Ravindra, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad expressed his happiness over the TSPCC and said it is a dream come true to the Cyberabad police and Telangana police.