India launches new group to fight crypto, cyber crimes

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India may not be ready to embrace cryptocurrencies as they are meant to be, but it is at least working to protect its citizens from crypto fraud. According to the media outlet The Hindu, the country’s Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, inaugurated the newly-created National Cyber Forensic Lab (NCFL) yesterday, which is tasked with investigating and resolving crypto-related crimes, as well as other types of cyber fraud.

The NCFL is expected to have a division specifically dedicated to the fighting crypto crimes. The move comes after a long string of fraudulent activity related to digital assets, including the recent CashCoin scam that saw investors lose almost $17 million.

In addition to the NCFL, Delhi will also have a new Cyber Protection Awareness and Detection Centre (CyPAD). New Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik explains, “We are now equipped with technology to recover data from damaged hard disks, cryptocurrency analysis, malware forensic and data can be retrieved from 33,000 kinds of mobile models available in the market.”

Included under the umbrella of the NCFL are other units, such as a Memory Forensics Lab, an Image Enhancement Lab, a Network Forensics Lab, an Advanced Mobile Forensics Lab and a Damaged Hard Disk Cryptocurrency Forensics Lab. The inauguration of both the NCFL and CyPAD marks the first time India has taken a dedicated step toward creating a cyber forensics lab.

Patnaik added, “It is the first cybercrime awareness and detection centre opened in the country. To be selected by the MHA to host the cyber forensic lab is a great moment of pride. The entire range of cyber forensic will be covered under CyPAD. We are selecting the staff on the basis of their technical qualification and their computer knowledge.”

In inaugurating the new centers, Singh pointed out that cybercrime is often used by terror group and represents the “biggest threat to digital India.” The new facilities will be able to detect cyber fraud that occurs in multiple sectors and will become an integral part of police investigations and prosecutions going forward.

Also in attendance of the inauguration was Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, as well as representatives from academic and technical entities such as the National Law University, IIT-Delhi, the Delhi Technological University and the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, among others.