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Apart from the National Police Academy, institutions such as IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, IIT Kottayam, IIIT Naya Raipur, RRU Gandhinagar and NFSU Delhi are also undertaking the mission of the first batch of cyber commandos.
A special unit of cyber commandos is slated to be set up next month and 346 commandos from various state police forces will be trained.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has hired India's top educational institution to train police officers to meet the country's cyber infrastructure needs. A special unit of cyber commandos is slated to be set up next month and 346 commandos from various state police forces will be trained.
According to an official communication reviewed by News18, apart from the National Police Academy, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, IIT Kottayam, IIT Naya Raipur, Institutions such as RRU Gandhinagar and NFSU Delhi have also taken up the task of training the first batch of cyber commandos.
“The Cyber Commando program aims to create a core of highly trained police officers who will be responsible for securing the information and communications technology (ICT), incident response and digital forensics infrastructure within their respective organisations. They will also act as national resource,” a senior official said, quoting an official communication sent to all states and union territories. These cyber experts will take action when cyber attacks occur and resolve cyber threats.
Fifteen cyber commando training institutions across the country have been shortlisted. Initially there were ten colleges: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad; Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar; NFSU Delhi; NFSU Gandhinagar; Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Indian Institute of Technology Madras; IIIT Kottayam; IIIT Naya Raipur; DIAT Pune; and NFSU Goa — have been selected for the first phase of training. Candidates selected for the training include investigating officers and senior officers.
According to a senior official, the inauguration ceremony is planned to be held in New Delhi on September 10, 2024, where Home Minister Amit Shah will interact with cyber commandos. This project is part of the 100 Days of Critical Action Plan. As part of the programme, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has completed the activation of several initiatives, including Samanvaya (Joint Management Information System), Cyber Commando and Cyber Fraud Mitigation Center (CFMC). An event is planned for the second week of September to which several businesses will be invited.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, India lost Rs 7,488.6 billion due to cyber fraud last year. While agencies are working hard to combat the rising cybercrime in the country, Maharashtra tops the list with a loss of Rs 990.7 billion, followed by Telangana with a loss of Rs 759.1 billion.
