Since 2004, October has been recognised as Cyber Consciousness month to boost consciousness about cyber safety. Dr Gaurav Gupta, the primary Indian to earn a doctorate within the area of digital forensics, is on a mission to create consciousness about technological fraud in society.
He was bestowed with the Younger Scientist Award of the Indian Science Congress in 2010 by the Man of Science himself—Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Apart from serving as a further director with the Ministry of Electronics and Data Know-how (MeitY), Authorities of India, Dr Gupta can be a broadcast author. Final yr, he authored a guide on cybersecurity known as, ‘Cyber Unsafe’.
AIM: Are you able to inform us about your journey in direction of turning into the primary Indian to earn a doctorate within the area of digital forensics?
Gaurav: Means again in 2001, after I accomplished my masters, most of my pals have been fascinated by becoming a member of the IT sector due to the dotcom increase. Nevertheless, I wished to do one thing else, and I received a possibility to work for the Central Forensic Science Laboratory at Hyderabad, the place I went and arrange their first cyber crime investigation and digital forensic lab.
Whereas I used to be serving to them arrange the digital forensic lab, I discovered there have been quite a lot of issues which might come up due to the usage of the know-how, which at that cut-off date, was very nascent. It was an period the place we have been utilizing the web by way of dial-up connections.
At the moment, I might see we have been going to be more and more depending on know-how as we moved ahead; therefore, frauds have been additionally going to extend. So, I began investigating a number of the technological frauds which have been occurring at that cut-off date and that me. I noticed a few issues and developed world-class options, which have been printed in worldwide journals within the US. The cybercrime summit in Atlanta invited me as a keynote speaker in 2005. So, throughout that point, I realised that it is a crucial space and utilized for my doctoral diploma at Jadavpur College, Calcutta, in 2003.
AIM: What are your views on the cybersecurity area in India? Do the legislation enforcement companies in India possess the proper of skillset or instruments to take care of cyber fraud?
Gaurav: We’ve got seen since time immemorial that crimes occur, and as soon as individuals begin misusing one thing, legal guidelines and rules are available in place to take care of the misuse. It’s the identical by way of know-how. As we began relying increasingly on know-how, individuals began to misuse it.
As soon as such a misuse begins, the legislation takes form, and legislation enforcement companies and varied different stakeholders must pitch in and develop their abilities. The identical is going on in our nation additionally. As we speak, from a rickshaw puller to a sabjiwala, everyone’s utilizing smartphones and are logging into the web. So, cybercrimes are sure to occur.
Consistent with that, the Authorities of India has many programmes the place they practice legislation enforcement companies and assist them purchase the precise set of abilities. As well as, quite a lot of new instruments, applied sciences, and coaching programmes have been rolled out.
So, what occurs is abilities are constructed over a time frame. Our legislation enforcement companies do possess the abilities and the instruments however the nation is so giant, it’s inconceivable to have 100% functionality developed prematurely. It’s at all times a cat-and-mouse scenario the place legislation enforcement companies at all times must meet up with new options and applied sciences, however I believe many steps are being taken in the precise course.
We’ve got the cybercrime.gov.in portal the place you may register your cybercrime-related complaints with out going to the police station. We’ve got the ‘1930’ quantity the place you may report monetary fraud in order that immediately the cash will be stopped in its tracks earlier than it may be taken out by criminals within the type of money. So, the federal government of India has taken quite a lot of fascinating and revolutionary steps to curb cybercrime.
Apart from, the IT Act has a provision of Part 79 (A), the place we notify forensic labs as examiners of digital proof. To date, we now have 12, and there are a lot of within the pipeline. This implies the standard and processes and their competence have been examined, and as soon as every thing is discovered appropriate and up to speed, they’ve been notified as examiners.
AIM: Inform us a bit about your guide ‘Cyber Unsafe’ and what your motivation was behind writing it.
Gaurav: In 2001, I received a name from a buddy of mine that cybercriminals had cheated him. And on the identical day, considered one of my neighbours informed me {that a} relative of his had been conned by an identical method by cybercriminals.
This made me realise there are at all times purple flags for cybercrimes, however most individuals are unaware and have no idea the best way to establish these purple flags. Quickly, I made a decision to jot down down my experiences within the type of a guide to assist elevate consciousness in direction of cybercrimes. That is how ‘Cyber Unsafe’ was born.
I’ve introduced my experiences within the type of brief tales, that are very non-technical, which suggests they’re straightforward to learn for audiences from 10-year-olds to 70-year-olds. To sum it up, the guide tells you ways you keep away from cyber fraud and how one can make it troublesome for cybercriminals to commit fraud.
AIM: Do we now have the precise legal guidelines and insurance policies in place to raised defend organisations and residents alike from cybercrimes?
Gaurav: India was one of many early adopters of cyber legal guidelines. The Data Know-how (IT) Act was handed by the parliament and was notified in 2000. This was once we have been nonetheless utilizing dial-up connections, and cyber crimes have been comparatively much less.
In 2008, we amended the IT Act. So, we now have the provisions within the IT Act to cease virtually every kind of crimes, and on occasion, the federal government of India retains reviewing them to deal with the altering technological situation.
So, I consider we now have satisfactory legal guidelines in place. Additionally, what we lack in all probability is the sort of consciousness which needs to be there with the residents of India. In that context additionally, the federal government is operating quite a lot of campaigns and funding is being supplied to create consciousness among the many lots by way of cyber safety and security measures.
The GoI has suggested banks and likewise the RBI to run consciousness campaigns for monetary fraud. We’ve got the data safety training and consciousness programme run by the GoI, the place we disseminate data and conduct workshops and on-line webinars. We supply out quite a lot of revolutionary consciousness programmes by way of data safety, training and consciousness.
Apart from, instructional our bodies like UGC together with varied authorities companies are operating campaigns the place they’re coaching their individuals in-house, by webinars or by calling specialists, or by way of quizzes, to show them concerning the dos and don’ts of cybersecurity and security.
AIM: Inform us a bit concerning the completely different initiatives within the space of cyber safety carried out by varied stakeholders.
Gaurav: GoI has requested all of the departments to rent Chief Safety Officers (CSOs). It additionally comes out with quite a lot of advisories by way of CERT-In to boost cybersecurity consciousness. So, upon getting the construction in place, you’re higher outfitted to deal with and deal with these cyber frauds that are going to occur. And, that’s the place we see good outcomes. We’re in a position to reply to these conditions on time and in a way that’s each environment friendly and efficient.
The GoI additionally launched a programme known as the cybersecurity ‘Grand Problem’, the place they invited startups to submit their concepts to resolve cybersecurity issues, and we gave seed cash of INR 5 to 10 lakhs within the preliminary phases, and the winners received INR 1 crore 60 lakhs in prize cash. We had greater than 100 submissions, and 12+ concepts have been shortlisted initially and at last, the highest three concepts have been awarded prize cash.
The federal government is investing in making individuals conscious, enhancing the capabilities of cyber cells, modernising the police and so forth. There are numerous initiatives, and it’s actually troublesome to pinpoint all of them. I believe a lot of the ministry’s web sites comprise particulars of the initiatives which they’re enterprise, and so they carry on publishing about different new ones on their web sites.
