Establishing identity of cyber criminals remains a key challenge, says Union Home Secretary

Indigenous solutions to tackle rising incidents of cybercrime are the need of the hour, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan said on Friday, as he inaugurated c0c0n 2025, the annual cybersecurity conference of the Kerala Police here.

Mr. Mohan called for indigenous solutions while highlighting the rise in not just cybercrime but also cyber-dependent crimes such as hacking malware and denial of services online.

Addressing a gathering of top police officers, techies and delegates from different parts of the world, Mr. Mohan stressed the challenge in establishing the identity of cyber criminals as a major reason behind cracking such cases.

Three tools

“A cyber criminal finds it very easy to hide their identity and they rely on three major tools to do so,” the home secretary said. The three tools he mentioned are virtual private networks (VPN), conversion of proceeds in cyber financial frauds to cryptocurrency, and dark web.

“VPNs have become a key tool for all types criminals from narcotics, sexual offenders, sexual traffickers and terrorists,” he said. “While the challenges are grave, our response is equally swift and equally effective. We will not let cybercrime affect the security of this country. We are committed to defend the people against such crimes. The State governments and the Central government are together in this,” he said.

Addressing the meet, State Police Chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar said cybersecurity is no longer a technical issue, but a matter of public safety and national sovereignty.

“Today, digital infrastructure is no longer peripheral to the government. Any public service, including financial transactions, delivery of services and emergency response, is being digitised. While this transformation is necessary, it also expands our threats and vulnerability exponentially. Cyber attacks are no longer random or isolated,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said. “In Kerala we have adopted a multi-pronged and proactive approach to deal with the crises,” he added.

Hibi Eden, MP, chaired the meet. Manoj Abraham, Director General of Police and Director Vigilance; S. Sreejith, Additional Director General of Police; P. Prakash, Inspector General of Police; Putta Vimaladitya, District Police Chief (Kochi City); and Ankit Asokan, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Operations, and representatives of Childlight, a global child safety institute, attended the inaugural session.