Maharashtra govt to launch MH CERT project against social media rumours

Maharashtra govt to launch MH CERT project against social media rumours

Mumbai: The State government is going to start a new project MH CERT to block objectionable messages on social media to stop rumours. The project will be worked on the line of the Central government’s India CERT and will control spreading of rumours and also control cyber crimes in the future. 

Ranjeet Patil, Home Minister of State, announced that there will be a predictive policing policy for cybersecurity. 

“Economic offences and cyber crimes are the challenges for the police and due to lack of proper knowledge in the sector, the police can control cyber crimes. 

“The State has to depend on the Central government’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for policing on cybercrime. Now, we have decided to start our own project MH-CERT,” Dr Patil said. 

Satej Patil, Congress member in legislative council, raised the issue during question hour. 

According to the data tabled by the government, in 2012, 561 cases were registered under the IT Act, out of which 351 cases 
(62.57 per cent) were detected. Of these, trials of 40 cases were completed and eight cases were convicted (20 per cent conviction), the written reply stated. 

There are 47 cyber laboratories and police stations. The government has trained 138 officials about prevention of cyber crimes. The government plans to set up ‘Cyber centre on excellence in cybersecurity’. 

Replying to a supplementary query from Congress MLC Anant Gadgil, Patil admitted that the conviction rate in cyber crimes is low, which could be due to prosecution lawyers not having sufficient knowledge of cyber laws.

He added that Rs 650 crore has been allocated for the capacity building of the project like having a dedicated building for the purpose, inducting manpower, spending on hardware and software technology and equipment for analysis.

In 2012, 561 cases were registered under the IT Act, out of which 351 cases (62.57 per cent) were detected. Of these, trials of 40 cases were completed and 8 cases were convicted (20 per cent conviction), the written reply stated.

It added that in 2017, 4,035 cases were registered under the IT Act, out of which 1,037 cases (25.70 per cent) were detected. 
Of these, trials of 12 cases were completed and 2 cases were convicted (16.67 per cent conviction), it added. 

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com