The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for coordination among the stakeholders to curb misuse of telecom resources in cyber-crime and financial frauds. It also launched Chakshu facility on Sanchar Saathi portal, which is an initiative to empower citizens to proactively report suspected fraud communication.
According to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways, the government has been persistently making efforts to check cyber-frauds under the secure India project, at three levels – national, organisational and individual. DoT has taken many initiatives to spread awareness so that citizens can make use of such tools for addressing their grievances as well as protect themselves from cyber-frauds.
The minister added that Sanchar Saathi portal has helped successfully tackle such attacks. He further added that together with these two portals – DIP and Chakshu, these tools will further appreciably enhance the capacity and ability to check any kind of cyber security threat.
DIP developed by DoT is a secure and integrated platform for real time intelligence sharing, information exchange and coordination among the stakeholders, including telecom service providers (TSPs), law enforcement agencies (LEAs), banks and financial institutions (FIs), social media platforms, identity document issuing authorities etc. The portal also contains information regarding the cases detected as misuse of telecom resources. The shared information could be useful to the stakeholders in their respective domains. It also works as backend repository for the citizen-initiated requests on the Sanchar Saathi portal for action by the stakeholders.
In addition, Chakshu is the latest addition to the citizen centric facilities already available on the Sanchar Saathi portal of DoT. It facilitates citizens to report suspected fraud communication received over call, SMS or WhatsApp with the intention of defrauding like KYC expiry or update of bank account/payment wallet/SIM/gas connection/electricity connection, sextortion, impersonation as government official/relative for sending money, disconnection of all mobile numbers by DoT.
In addition, according to Devusinh Chauhan, Union Minister of State for Communications, DoT has successfully completed several projects for countering cyber-security threats. Many more such projects are under development to deal with new and emerging frauds.
In his opening remarks, Dr Neeraj Mittal, secretary (T), DoT added that these two new portals are other steps for dealing with cyber security threat to every citizen’s digital asset. These tools will help curb any kind of fraudulent means and misuse of communications system.
Furthermore, the launch of DIP and Chakshu facility underscores commitment of DoT to empower citizens and fostering a secure digital ecosystem. By encouraging vigilant reporting and taking proactive measures against suspected fraud communications, DoT remains dedicated to safeguarding the interests and well-being of every citizen.
Industry reactions:
Commenting on the development, Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said, “We compliment the Ministry of Communications and DoT on the launch of the Chakshu application, which is a pathbreaking initiative to help mitigate the increasing number of cyber frauds in today’s fast-growing digital era. We firmly believe that critical issues like cyber frauds require all stakeholders to work together to truly make an impact on the ground. This initiative would help channelise our citizens to come on a single platform led by the government and actively contribute by sharing knowledge to help prevent such undesired and malicious activities. We are optimistic that the people will immensely benefit from this initiative and COAI will wholeheartedly promote and support this initiative to benefit all telecom consumers.”
