Chandigarh to get high-tech centre for cyber security – Hindustan Times

The Centre for Cyber Operations and Security (CenCOPS) whose foundation stone was laid down by the Union defence minister Rajnath Singh at Government Press Building, Sector 18 on Monday; will be well-equipped to stop or counter any cyber-attack on the data of local administration or to secure any crucial government data in the city.

CenCOPS, the first-of-its-kind in India, will enable police forces of Chandigarh and neighbouring states, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal, in solving complex cybercrime and strengthening the cyber security setup.

Work for project CenCOPS has been awarded to Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on nomination basis at estimated cost of ₹88 crore under Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) scheme.

Giving details, superintendent of police (SP) Ketan Bansal, said, “It was Chandigarh police’s own initiative to have an advanced and well-equipped modern cybercrime centre here. We received ₹22.35 crore funds from ministry of home affairs which have already been given to DRDO by us. The facility will have a training lab. Key software and hardware will be installed to ensure cyber security. We will complete the set up in three to four months.”

The centre will have facilities, including data analytics and predictive policing, evidence collection and advanced forensics, cyber security and cybercrime investigation and social media analytics and citizen outreach.

“The data collected from various sources will be analysed in depth here which will also help in predictive policing. We will be able to deploy the force well in time at the appropriate places with the intelligence received from CenCOPS. Information being shared at various social media platforms will be analysed and strong intelligence inputs can be gathered from there to avoid violence. In case of cyber-attack, the alerts will be released immediately,” Bansal added.

Moreover, CenCOPS will be beneficial in face recognition of the anti-social elements in the city. “The data of the defaulters or gangsters will be fed in the facial recognition system (FRS) and the moment a camera in the city captures the face, the system will generate an alert which will help us in timely policing,” the SP added.