The Union government is pushing for rigorous training of IPS and judicial officers on subjects related to cybercrime and digital fraud.
For the first time, elite training institutes have prepared a training calendar emphasising on these issues by dedicating almost 50 per cent of the sessions to such topics in 2024. Officials aware of the schedules have told News18 that, in a first, the government has asked elite institutes to dedicate maximum sessions to these topics.
According to the calendar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) has planned courses like cybercrime investigation, ‘OSINT & Social Media Analysis, Cyber Security for Judicial Officers etc for mid-level to senior-level IPS and judicial officers.
Sources said during the DGP/IGP Conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also expressed a desire to focus on the next level of crimes and train police regarding the same.
“The conference will also deliberate on futuristic themes in policing and security like the challenges posed by new technologies such as AI, Deepfake etc. and ways to deal with them,” the Prime Minister’s Office had said in a press release.
Among over a dozen topics on the agenda, issues such as ‘Emerging cyber threats from national-state actors and strategies to mitigate threats on critical information structure’, ‘Challenges posed by AI Tools: Chat GPT, AI enabled crime and use of Internet of Things devices’ and ‘Weaponisation of Social media: Challenges and Responses’ saw long discussions and brainstorming sessions during the last conference.
Apart from these topics, training sessions on digital payment frauds, cyber forensic dark web and crypto currency have been planned for officers up to the level of IGPs. A government official said the highest-ever sessions have been dedicated to such issues this year.
A senior government official told News18 that Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)’s cyber experts will also take sessions on these topics, not only for IPS officers but also for judicial officers. Sources said this year, the number of sessions has been doubled, hinting at the priority of the government.
The government is also training a few officials to create a new dedicated wing of ‘cyber commandos’ who will be drawn from police forces of states and Union Territories as well as from central police organisations.
In its latest communication to states and UTs, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked all police forces to identify 10 suitable ‘cyber commandos’.
The idea of the cyber commando wing had come up earlier this year when PM Modi recommended its setting up during the DGP/IG conference.
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