The long arm of the cyber-cops

BANGALORE: Security checks will no longer be restricted to air travel alone. In a few months time, cyber cafe owners across Karnataka would compulsorily need to maintain a log of users, carrying details such as name of user, address and even photo IDs. This is the result of an initiative pushed by the cyber crime police station in Bangalore. The notification will come into effect after it is accepted under the state government's gazette order.






Users would need to establish their identity by producing photo ID such as photo credit cards, passport, PAN card or driving license. If the photo ID is not found sufficient, cyber café owners are obliged to photograph the user after obtaining consent using a web camera.





Officers at the police station hope that this would make it easier for them to crack down cyber crimes. According to Inspector Radha Mani, "We have come across a lot of cases such as missing persons, kidnappings or obscenity related incidents where the perpetrators used to regularly frequent cyber cafes for the relative anonymity they provide. Having a record of users' identification increases our chances of nabbing them and also bringing down such cases." Such a regulation is already being suggested for Mumbai and Delhi.





Mani said that obscenity cases against women are on the rise this year, and in many cases, women are too embarrassed or ashamed to file complaints, fearing social ridicule and undue publicity. She hoped that the new regulation would bring in tracing the culprits easily.





On the technology front, the police station has enhanced its cyber forensic capabilities by importing equipment worth Rs 17 lakh. This high-tech equipment, includes forensic investigation software called EnCase and hardware called Digital Recovery and Analysis Computer (DRAC 2000), that helps in retrieving data from any media be it CDs, floppies, ZIP cartridges, memory sticks and hard drives. So far, Rs 50 lakh has been pumped into the computer infrastructure at the station.





Cyber police station DSP Chandramohan said that no other police station in the country is equipped with such technology. The Bangalore station headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police - Economic Offences (COD) Ravindranath handles cases such as hacking, data theft, source code theft, web site defacement and obscenity and harassment over the net.





Set up in 2001, the police station has so far registered 34 cases and has handled 170 investigative inquiries.