Gurugram Police cyber cell flooded with applications for its summer internship

Gurugram Police have a problem of plenty on their hands. The response to the force’s call for internship with their cyber cell has surpassed all their expectations — so much so, that the commencement of the programme has been pushed back to June 15, from the earlier June 1. A total of 100 candidates are set to undergo the month-long internship.

“During the internship, students will develop tools to assist law enforcement agencies and forensics. They will make live projects in programming languages which will help LEA in evidence gathering,” says Rakshit Tandon, advisor, Cyber Cell. Topics to be discussed include cyber security (artificial intelligence and big data analytics/dark web investigations) and cyber fraud.

“This is an annual exercise being conducted for the past five years. Every year, we call applications from people with law and computer backgrounds (BTech and BCA), and those with interest in cyber security. Generally, 100 applicants are selected (for the internship) and later awarded certificates,” says Hitesh Yadav, ACP Cyber Crime. “Interns get to meet cyber analysts or experts, apart from those that write security codes or work in security audits,” Yadav adds.

The number of online banking fraud-related complaints in Gurugram has risen by nine times in the past five years (248 in 2013 to 2,095 in 2017). Yadav feels that it is too easy to get duped these days — users are wont to giving away valuable data and credentials online, and perpetrators don’t realise that it’s an offence. “There is identity theft, hacking, lotteries, cyber impersonation, Ponzi schemes, ransomware, online extortion, data theft, and cyber squatting. We make people understand that these practices are termed cyber crimes,” Yadav says, adding, “However, we don’t give an overview of [ongoing] investigations.”

Past interns, too, testify to having benefited from the programme big time. “I learned about sim card fraud and how social media accounts and phones are unsecured and the precautions or the immediate action one can take to overcome it, apart from the steps to help people who have been cyber bullied. And the experience continues to help me in my life,” says 26-year-old Prachi Singh from the city, now pursuing her MTech.

Sarthak Agarwal, 24, agrees that the hands-on experience was invaluable. “Every day brought new learning at this internship, as I had the opportunity to learn from cyber lawyers and security experts. We were also taught ethical hacking,” Agarwal, who has recently completed his BA LLB, says. “It has influenced my life in a way that has made me aware of the crimes happening in the cyber world, and the precautions I should take to combat them.”

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