In yet another positive move after the passing of the Good Samaritans Bill, Karnataka has raised the bar for effective governance by joining hands with the Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, to tackle the menace of cyber crime. As part of this, an anti-cybercrime hub, the Centre for Cybercrime Investigation Training and Research (CCITR) will be set up in Bengaluru. The Centre will be catering to training of police, judiciary and other state departments and is expected to create standard operating procedures for cybercrime investigations. Not only that, Infosys has even offered Rs 22 crore for setting up the Centre and also maintaining its technological infrastructure, along with capital investment for training programmes.

The relentless growth of cybercrime is a significant threat the collective security of the world. One will surely agree with Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara: “Law breakers use more technology than us.” The growing misuse of online data for illegal purposes remains a serious challenge to the detection, trial and prosecution of criminals. This upward trend of cybercrime owes its existence to poor digital security standards and practices. The partnership between a tech giant and law enforcement agencies will lead to a disruption of major cybercriminal syndicates and high-profile individuals associated with child abuse, cyber intrusions, payment card fraud and so on.

This move is a step in the right direction to help us stay one step ahead of cyber criminals.