All set for Kerala police’s Cyberdome at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram

Centre for cybersecurity to come up at cost of Rs.2 crore

Stage has been set and work has begun on the much-awaited Cyberdome, a hi-tech centre for cybersecurity and innovations in Kerala Police, at Technopark.

With the State Cabinet issuing administrative sanction for the project and a government order in this regard being issued on August 22, work has begun on setting up a preliminary control room. This is expected to be ready within a month, a senior police officer told The Hindu .

As per the order (GO (Ms) No.167/2014/Home), the information technology (IT) industry will contribute in terms of expertise, manpower, hardware, software, and training on a pro bono basis, while the centre, to function under the aegis of the police department, will handle activities including Internet monitoring, virtual policing, social media in virtual policing, automated threat intelligence in near real-time, cyber forensics, virtual courts, tracking system for protecting children, criminal apprehension software, safe surfing online web application, ‘Fugitives at your Fingertips’ software, child ID application, fingerprint capture application, guardian web application, image analysis software, and victim identification.

An online network investigation application, an access blocking application, a stolen/lost travel documents database, a stolen vehicle database, a money laundering automated search service, cybersecurity advisory and cybersecurity awareness too will be among issues and projects to be handled by the Cyberdome.

The Rs.2-crore public-private partnership project, to be established in an area of 2,000 sq ft at Technopark, will have its server hosted from the State’s existing data centres.

According to the GO, software companies in Technopark will provide technical support on a voluntary basis, develop software for the purpose, and provide technical manpower as well.

The technical support is expected in crime monitoring, policing the web, assistance in investigation of cybercrime, development of new software for the police, and other security-related areas. A police officer in the rank of a deputy superintendent with 10 other officers, all with IT-related qualifications, will be stationed at the dome. The Additional Director General of Police (Crimes) will be in charge of overall supervision.

The GO stresses that there will be no duplication of work between the Computer Emergency Response Team-Kerala and the Cyberdome and that both agencies are to synergise their work.