Rising misuse of internet for circulating child pornography and other obscene material is a matter of concern, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today as he directed officials to expedite the launch of online cybercrime reporting portal.
In a review meeting of his Ministry, Singh also cautioned against the new challenges in cyberspace crimes and sought effective measures to improve cyber security.
Concerned over the "misuse" of social media for illegal activities, he said the capabilities of law enforcement agencies should be strengthened to be able to meet the challenges posed by it.
The minister stressed on increasing public awareness and strengthening of institutional framework for checking financial frauds being committed on gullible public by phone call fraudsters.
On the proposed online cybercrime reporting portal, the minister said this will enable affected people in states/Union territories to lodge complaints which will be investigated by the respective law enforcement agencies and action taken for removal of such content.
The Minister appreciated the efforts made in expediting security clearance for proposals in sensitive sectors and noted that the average duration for the clearance of a proposal has come down to 53 days compared to 120 days four years ago, a ministry statement said.
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He called for further reducing the clearance time by making use of online systems in coordination with administrative ministries for processing the proposals.
"This would further improve efficiency and monitoring," the home minister said.
Greater vigilance was needed against evolving cyber threats, he said, as he called for regular cyber auditing of IT infrastructure of all organisations under the home ministry.
He issued directions for upgradation and updation of National Information Security Policy and Guidelines (NISPG) for the government sector.
Singh also expressed concern over financial frauds being committed on gullible public by phone call fraudsters and stressed on increasing public awareness and strengthening of institutional framework for checking such frauds.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and senior officials of the ministry were also present at the review meeting.