India’s cyber infrastructure needs more than patches

Context:

• According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the incidence of cybercrime is on the increase in India. But the capacity of the enforcement agencies to investigate cybercrime remains limited.

No Procedural Code:

• As ‘police’ and ‘public order’ comes under the State List, so the primary obligation to check crime and create the necessary cyberinfrastructure lies with States. But the IT Act and major laws are central legislations, so the central government must evolve uniform statutory procedures for the enforcement agencies.
• In India, we do not have any separate procedural code for the investigation of cyber or computer-related offences.

Shortage of technical staff:

• There haven’t been many efforts by the states to recruit technical staff for the investigation of cybercrime which is essential because the regular police lack the ability to understand the technicalities involved in cybercrimes. In the past, the judiciary has also highlighted the need for qualified staff who could acquire and analyse digital evidence. State governments must build up a sufficient capacity to deal with cybercrime.