Cybercrime is a threat to the progress and security of our nation: CM

Panaji: While stating that the importance of comprehensively addressing social media privacy issues cannot be underestimated, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said that cybercrime is a threat to the progress and security of our nation.

“Cybercrime is a threat to the progress and security of our nation.

The need of the hour is to create cyber warriors to combat cybercrime,” Sawant said addressing  International Conference on Information Security, Privacy and Digital Forensics (ICISPD 2022) at BITS Pillani campus in Vasco city, 35 kms away from here.

The chief minister said that the importance of comprehensively addressing social media privacy issues cannot be underestimated. “The challenge calls for skilled experts,” he said.

Sawant said that in order to confront the challenge of cyber threats in all aspects effectively there is a need of awareness, knowledge and skills about the emerging trends of cybercrimes and training in the latest technologies of cyber security and computer forensics.

The chief minister pointed out that as per the data from National Crime Records Bureau a total of 52,974 cases were registered under Cyber Crimes, showing an increase of 5.9 per cent in registration over 2020.

He added that the Crime rate under this category increased from 3.7 per cent in 2020 to 3.9 per cent in 2021.

“During 2021, 60.8 per cent of cyber-crime cases registered were for the motive of fraud followed by sexual exploitation with 8.6 per cent  and Extortion with 5.4 per cent,” Sawant said.

Speaking further, the chief minister said that  two of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century, the computer and the internet have changed the entire world.

“It is interesting that the children born in the beginning of this millennium cannot even imagine a world without internet connectivity and mobile devices,” he said.

Sawant said that the great example of the positive side of internet and related technologies became very clear during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In the period when self-isolation and social distancing were essential to control Covid-19 outbreak, Internet helped the people remain connected, make payments, buy essentials, and very importantly do their work,” he said.