Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday said that the State Police Department’s cyber security hub, Cyberdome, scheduled to come up at Technopark would be a model in public private partnership.
Delivering the valedictory address at the International Cyber Security and Policing Conference-2013, he said the public and the government were becoming increasingly dependent on the cyber world and its security was of paramount importance to the polity. It was a resource, which, in the hands of the wrong people, could be turned into an awesome weapon against the State.
Information Technology secretary, P. H. Kurien, said public service delivery systems in Kerala were fast becoming digitised. e-commerce and e-banking were on the rise. Kerala had one of the largest number of internet, computer and mobile phone users in the country. Cyber security was the State’s primary concern, he said.
Bessie Pang, executive director, the Society for the Policing of Cyber Space, Canada, said international cooperation was essential among cyber security agencies and professionals to restrict the use of cyber space for criminal and disruptive purposes. State Police Chief K. S. Balasubramanian said it was the duty of the police to create user awareness to insulate the citizenry as best as possible from internet and computer related crimes.
Inspector General of Police Manoj Abraham said, so far, 15 organisations involved in cyber security, including some major players in the private sector, haves agreed to have a stake in cyber dome.
The State government has created 180 Sub-Inspector level posts to staff various upcoming cyber units in various district police headquarters.
As many as 50 recognised cyber security professionals, many of them big names in the IT industry, spoke on 44 varied cyber security topics at the conference. There was a track exclusively for technical subjects. Manu Zacharia, president, Information Security Research Association, India, was one of the main coordinators for the event.
The next edition of the Cocoon is likely to be held in Kochi.
