The technical hurdles that delayed the opening of the proposed police Cyberdome at the government IT park here have almost been cleared by the Deputy Development Commissioner of Special Economic Zones (SEZ). A final notification in this regard will be issued soon extending permission to the Cyber Cell to occupy a 400-sq-ft space under SEZ at Sahya, the first multi-tenated IT building of the Cyberpark in the city.
Though the operation of the Cyberdome – which was mainly proposed for meeting the long-term cybersecurity challenges with experts’ partnership and confidential information-sharing for quick results – was expected to begin a couple of months ago, differences of opinion regarding allotment of space for a non-business venture under SEZ posed hurdled to the project. Subsequently, the project was put on hold by the Cyber Cell.
In support of the Cyberdome initiative, six prominent IT companies and 60 expert volunteers have already registered their names with the district police. The volunteers included professionals in internet monitoring, virtual policing, automated threat intelligence, tracking system for child protection, image analysis, victim identification and finger print analysis.
Tie-up with agencies
Though there would be public-private partnership in the operation of the cyberdome, it would be brought under the direct control of a hi-tech cell currently entrusted with the monitoring of similar units in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. Police said the tie-up with prominent national and international agencies specialised in cyberforensics would make new cyberdome a powerful entity. Moreover, experts from the premier institutions like the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode and the National Institute of Technology-Calicut would offer their support.
A project coordinator said the government would spend ₹1 crore in the first phase. More volunteers would be encouraged to join the experts’ team using the enrolment link on the official website of the Kozhikode city police, he said.
