Cyber crime threat to India's progress, security: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

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Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said cyber crime is a threat to India's progress and security and cyber warriors need to be created to combat the menace.

Sawant was speaking at the International Conference on Information Security, Privacy and Digital Forensics (ICISPD 2022) at BITS Pilani campus in Vasco city, 35 km from here.

The chief minister said the importance of comprehensively addressing social media privacy issues cannot be underestimated and the challenge calls for skilled experts.

"Cybercrime is a threat to the progress and security of our nation. The need of the hour is to create cyber warriors to combat cyber crime," he said.

Sawant stressed on the need for awareness, knowledge and skills about the emerging trends in cybercrimes and training in latest technologies of cyber security and computer forensics.

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As per data from the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 52,974 cases of cyber crime were registered, showing an increase of 5.9 per cent in registration since 2020, he said.

The crime rate in this category had increased from 3.7 per cent in 2020 to 3.9 per cent in 2021, he added.

"In 2021, 60.8 per cent of cyber crime cases were of fraud, 8.6 per cent of sexual exploitation and 5.4 per cent of extortion," Sawant said.

He further said that two of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, the computer and the internet have changed the world.

"It is interesting that children born at the start of this millennium can't even imagine a world without internet connectivity and mobile devices," he said.

The positive side of the internet and related technologies became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, the chief minister said.

"When self-isolation and social distancing were essential to control the outbreak, internet helped people remain connected, make payments, buy essentials, and most importantly, do their work," Sawant said.

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