KTR inaugurated ‘Telangana State Police Centre of Excellence for Cyber Safety’, a first-of-its-kind initiative in India to secure the Cyber Ecosystem for the State

Hyderabad, December 3, 2022: K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of IT E&C, MA & UD, Govt of Telangana inaugurates TS Police Centre of Excellence for Cyber Safety in the city at Cyberabad Police Commissionerate at Gachibowli on Saturday
 
TS Police ‘Centre of Excellence for Cyber Safety’ is an initiative of Telangana Police and the Society For Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) curated by Cyberabad Police Commissionerate.  It was inaugurated by KTR in the presence of Mohd Mahboob Ali, Minister of Home, Govt of Telangana; M. Mahender Reddy, Director General of Police, Telangana.
 
It is the first of its kind initiative by any state in India. It is a proactive initiative. It is a process-driven initiative rather than a people-oriented unique initiative in which Telangana Police take pride. It is a productised approach.
 
The vision of this ambitious initiative is to secure the cyber ecosystem for the state of Telangana.
 
It is an industry-led initiative taken up in partnership with the Police (PPP), as a trusted partner to citizens, industry and academia, for mitigating cyber security incidents and frauds, by leveraging technology, setting up processes, building capacity, spreading awareness, to strengthen the legal framework by complementing cyber security initiatives of Government and to serve as a collaborative and continuous innovation platform for—Field Practitioners, Industry Experts, Thought Leaders, Researchers etc.
 
The who-is-who industry partners of the initiative include Microsoft, CyberEye, Google, EY, ISB, NALSAR, IIT-Hyderabad; RBI, NPCI(National Payments Corporation of India), IDRBT, Dept of Telecommunication, Govt of India; TAFCOP(Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection; HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, RBL Bank, PayTM, TrueCaller, Intl Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.
 
Speaking on the occasion KT Rama Rao said new-age crimes need new-age solutions. During Munugodu by-elections we realised that voters were lured with money transferred through digital payments. The Election Commission also needs to be sensitised on this matter. We live in a world where technology is everywhere. The devices outnumber the population. We are living in a connected world where devices talk between themselves. Under these circumstances, Cyber Security becomes a huge challenge he observed.
 
Speaking further he added that the sense of cyber crimes are not just confined to big cities but they are there and even spread to small and remote places. So we need to promote awareness. We need to promote 1930, an all-India toll-free number against cyber crimes. We need to build institutions like this Centre of Excellence rather than individuals. Processes are more important than people, he said.
 
He urged the industry to be part of this initiative. He appealed everyone to come forward. More than a million people work in the IT sector in the city. All must become cyber warriors. We are working on the first draft piece of legislation on Cyber Crimes. The work is under process. When it was ready and announced Telangana will be the first state to do so, he claimed with pride.
 
KTR urged the home minister and the top police leadership to work on the Registry of Sexual offenders. Sunitha Krishnan, a prominent social activist suggested it some time ago. Once those listed in the registry, will be prohibited from jobs and prohibited from using any facilities from the government.
 
Also, a participant in a Hackathon in the past suggested implementing a First Respondent Drone which can swiftly move to a crime scene much before the police arrive. He urged the home minister to start the work on these initiatives at the earliest possible time. 
 
A customised Crime Operating System(Crime OS) s developed exclusively for this initiative by Hyderabad based Startup ‘CyberEye’ founded by a former DRDO expert, Ram Ganesh, who is also Director, Technical for the newly inaugurated Centre of Excellence(CoE) is launched by KTR. It is built on Microsoft Cloud.
 
Mohd Mahmood Ali, Home Minister said the state has 64% of total CCTVs in India. Though there are not many crimes happening in this part,, most of our citizens are becoming victims of the cyber crimes done elsewhere, he said.
 
DGP M. Mahender Reddy said today there are no crimes without digital components. And there are no individuals who are not impacted. So Police need to be relevant, and effective and must serve. 
 
So we need to evolve from a physical force to a tech-savvy force. We must be the tech-based force which works with ease, he said.  
 
Telangana Police is the best in the country. We have ten lakh CCTVs. Every citizen must be reassured that they are safe and that the police ensure their safety. Safety and Security are pre-requisite for the development of Telangana. Our goal is to keep Telangana safe in terms of the cyber ecosystem. The command control which was inaugurated some time ago will have dozens of Centres of Excellence, said Mahender Reddy. 
 
The Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said the TS Police Centre of Excellence for Cyber Safety is yet another feather in the cap of Telangana Police, who already have stellar respect and are known for their pioneering efforts in utilising technology. He urged Stephen Ravindra, Commissioner of Cyberabad to collaborate with other government CoEs. And he assured his help in facilitating the same.  
 
Rajiv Kumar, MD of Microsoft India said post covid the nature of crimes used to be 80% conventional and 20% digital. Now it is reversed. And even that 20% has a digital component to it. TS Police Centre of Excellence for Cyber Safety is probably unique in the world.  
 
BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder Chairman Cyient said 5G which is around the corner is going to revolutionise the way we engage in future. It makes remote telesurgery possible. It is one of the many wonders we can expect in the future. At the same time, cyber crimes are galloping. There is a 150% increase in Cyber Crimes in the recent past. Hyderabad is the Happening City in the country. 50% of Tech Companies have their development centres in Hyderabad. He gave three suggestions for better policing. One is to develop a level of awareness so that reporting of crimes will go up. Two, the police must do capacity building in terms of expertise in Cyber Security. The third is to provide subject matter expertise to the police. He assured that his company will come forward to extend that help for the next two years.  
 
Stephen Ravindra, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad said it is a dream come true to the Cyberabad Police in particular and Telangana Police in general. We need new-age policing which is in tune with the aspiration of the citizen and adoption of technology, work process. Policing has to be predictive, preventive and proactive.
 
Police must use technology as a force multiplier. Two lakh crore rupees worth of IT products and services are being exported from this state. 
 
The Centre of Excellence is the new way of tackling the security challenges of the 21st century.  
 
There is a compelling need to secure our digital ecosystem. It is the most sought-after initiative, an initiative of exceptional nature, said Krishna Yedula, Secretary, SCSC in his welcome address. 
 
Several top Police Officers, Government Officials, and Industry Captains, MP Ranjith Reddy, MLA A. Gandhi, MLC Naveen graced the launch.