New Delhi, February 11: Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed a Parliamentary Consultative Committee that the government is working on integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify mule accounts in collaboration with the Reserve Bank and all other banks. The aim is to establish a system for detecting mule accounts before they become operational.
Shah shared this information during a meeting on Cyber Security and Cyber Crime held on Monday in the national capital, where he assured that steps are being taken to close mule accounts before they are even activated. “We will ensure the closure of mule accounts before they are even operational,” he said.
The Minister also discussed the government’s awareness campaign to educate people on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra “stop-think-take action,” which is designed to make individuals more vigilant against cybercrimes.
Shah highlighted key figures from the ongoing efforts in tackling cybercrime, including:
- 1,43,000 FIRs registered on the I4C portal with over 19 crore users.
- 805 apps and 3,266 website links blocked for national security reasons, based on I4C recommendations.
- 399 banks and financial intermediaries have joined the initiative.
- Over 6 lakh suspicious data points shared and more than 19 lakh mule accounts identified.
- Suspicious transactions worth Rs 2,038 crore prevented.
The Minister also pointed to the establishment of Cyber Crime Forensic Training Labs in all 33 states and union territories, and the registration of 101,561 police officers on the CyTrain platform. Over 78,000 certificates have been issued through the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
Shah further discussed the expansion of India’s digital infrastructure, noting that the country is witnessing an increase in cyber-attacks due to the rapid growth of digital services. He described cybercrime as a “borderless” and “formless” crime, making it a complex challenge to tackle.
He also highlighted the significant strides India has made in the digital realm:
- 95% of villages are digitally connected.
- One lakh gram panchayats now have Wi-Fi hotspots.
- 4.5 times increase in the number of internet users in the last decade.
- In 2024, 48% of global digital transactions were conducted in India.
- India’s digital economy contributed Rs 32 lakh crore (12% of the GDP) in 2023, creating nearly 15 million jobs.
Shah emphasized that India is now the third-largest digital economy globally, and the government’s aim is to achieve zero cybercrime cases in the future. He outlined the four strategies being used to tackle cybercrime: Convergence, Coordination, Communication, and Capacity.
Lastly, he urged all committee members to raise public awareness about cybercrime prevention and promoted the I4C helpline number 1930. The helpline provides services such as blocking cards and offers a one-point solution for cyber financial fraud.
The committee members appreciated the government’s efforts in improving cyber security and offered their suggestions on further tackling cybercrime.