'Schematics' ready to help govt block porn sites

The National Cyber Safety and Security Standards (NCSSS) has readied “schematics” to help the government block all pornographic websites in the country, which some believe are “mainly responsible” for crimes against women.

Dr S Amarprasad Reddy, Additional Director General, NCSSS, said there were three crore pornographic websites in the country and the Supreme Court had recently asked about the possibility of blocking them. 

He also said that these websites were the main reason for crimes against women.“Now, schematics for blocking these websites are ready and it will soon be given to the government for operation,” he said at the inauguration of the first National Cyber Defence Research Centre (NCDRC) at Kalasalingam University here.

Reddy attributed crimes against children to pornographic addiction. He said about 7,200 children are raped every year while many such cases go unreported.The NCSSS additional director general said number of service providers to track crimes involving Information Technology should increase manifold in India as currently “even blocking a website takes three months”.

He revealed that major crime groups had developed great expertise in outsourcing much of their business to specialists - money launderers, hackers, cartels, triads, and gangs.

NCDRC Forensic Research lab would be equipped to identify and support law enforcement to stop such crimes besides organised health care frauds, among others, he said. 

It would also monitor any software, technology and content on social media if it poses a threat to national security.

The chief guest at the function was Justice C T Selvam, Madras High Court Judge, who said the law at present was not enough to deal with cyber crimes. He also said police personnel did not have enough expertise to pin such criminals down and called for more trained personnel to deal with cyber crimes.

Justice T N Vallinayagam, Judge, Lok Adalat, and former High Court judge, presided over the function. Tamil Nadu would have the maximum number of NCDRCs with eight of 60 centres countrywide to be located in the state. Kalasalingam University set up its cyber defence research centre at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. The university would focus on the forensic aspect of cyber crime and also help students take up a career in cyber security.

A high-level committee with world class expertise in eight fields, including malware, mobile security, networking security and national security, would manage the NCDRC.