CyberDome Project: A Public-Private Partnership in Cyberspace

CyberDome Project- In the rapidly growing and changing the digital world, the investigation of cybercrimes and ensuring cybersecurity for citizens is one of the most challenging areas for the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). 

• Since today’s cyber-crimes involve the use of most modern and sophisticated technologies, as well as anonymity over the internet, it becomes extremely difficult for the police, to investigate these kinds of crimes. The cybercriminals now work in a borderless environment, with legal systems of multiple jurisdictions. To make things worse, cybercrime has been evolving at an astonishing rate. Unfortunately, the police system is not equipped to take a pivotal role in cybercrime investigations and prevention of cybercrimes.
• The new challenges in Cyber Security, increasing number of cybercrimes and newer sophisticated cyber threats on the Internet, targeted against individuals and establishments have necessitated the expertise of Information technology professionals in fighting the same. Law enforcement agencies also require training by the IT sector as technology gets updated rapidly. 

Taking into account the broader impact of cybercrimes and challenges in cyberspace, Kerala Police initiated the Cyber Dome Project for the establishment of a Hi-tech Centre for Cyber Security and Innovations at the Technopark Campus, Trivandrum, Kerala.

About Cyberdome

• Cyberdome is a technological research and development centre of Kerala Police Department, conceived as a cyber centre of excellence in cybersecurity, as well as technology augmentation for effective policing.
• It envisages as a high tech public-private partnership centre of collaboration for different stakeholders in the domain of cybersecurity and handling of cyber crimes in a proactive manner. 
• The IT industry will contribute in terms of expertise, manpower, hardware, software, training, etc on a pro-bono basis.
• It is a motley crew of ethical hackers, expert coders, youth prodigies skilled in software, law enforcers and civilian volunteers who huddle behind flickering computer terminals at the office, with most of them offering their services for free. 
• They are State law enforcement’s first line of defence against a range of online threats.

Objectives and aims

• The primary objective of Cyberdome is to prevent cyber crimes and ensure that our cyber resources are secured. 
• It is to prevent cybercrimes through developing a cyber threat resilient ecosystem in the state to defend against the growing threat of cyber attacks by synergizing with other departments and nodal agencies of the state. 
• Cyberdome makes collective coordination among the Government departments and agencies, academia, research groups, non-profitable organizations, individual experts from the community, ethical hackers, private organizations, and other law enforcement agencies in the country with the aim of providing a safe and secure cyber world for each and every citizen in the state.
• This centre is envisaged to perform following activities
  • Internet Monitoring
  • Virtual Policing
  • Social Media in Virtual Policing
  • Automated threat intelligence in near real-time
  • Cyber Forensics
  • Virtual Courts
  • Tracking System for Protecting Children
  • Criminal Apprehension Software
  • Safe Surfing online Web Application
  • Child ID Application
  • Image Analysis Software
  • Online Network Investigation Application
  • Access Blocking Application
  • Stolen Vehicle Database
  • Cyber Security Awareness, etc

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• The Cyber Dome will have a research division with the following areas of research, development and analysis
  • New avenues of cyber forensic including those using mobile technology
  • New methods in approaching cyber crimes and other crimes using IT
  • Increasing efficiency of Police Department using IT infrastructure
  • Neural analysis

Some activities and prospects of the Cyberdome project

Cyberdome has developed cyber-surveillance tools to detect and convict those responsible for industrial espionage. The tools unearth moles that lie deep in critical information networks and siphon off data clandestinely. Cyberdome has used social engineering as the lynchpin of its policing strategy to snoop on radical groups that use the net for extremist activities.

• Cyberdome has also launched a covert cyber-surveillance and infiltration programme to crack down on child pornography.
  • The State police and Cyberdome partnered with the Interpol and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMC) to combat child porn. 
  • The entities have cobbled together an international alliance that entails transfer and development of the latest artificial intelligence-powered cyber tools to crack down on a wide range of crimes.
  • The Interpol has granted the State police access to its latest cyber investigation tool, the Internet Crimes Against Children and Child Online Protective Services (ICACCOPS) programme. It helps law enforcers conduct targeted surveillance of persons who share and trade child pornography on peer-to-peer user networks.
• In 2017, Cyberdome notched up a remarkable victory when it forewarned the Kerala government of a possible ransomware attack.
• It also got praise from the chief minister of Kerala for its successful propaganda war against online games such as Blue Whale, which encourages youngsters to engage in death-defying daredevilry, which had caused a few deaths in the country and spawned concern among parents.

Some achievements of Cyberdome

• Performed VAPT (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing) on more than 100+ sites and reported their vulnerabilities
• Developed advanced Social Media lab for analytics, Cyber intelligence & monitoring Darknets.
• A software called Privacy Tracker has been developed in a partnership model for preventing piracy of films
• Defaced or removed around 250+ child porn pages/ porn sites and initiated action against the culprits
• Ransomware School started to understand, analyse and mitigate ransomware infections
• Developed a malware analysis lab to analyse the behaviour of malware & its preventive measures
• Developed a SOC System(Security Operations Centre) for protecting Government digital infrastructure
• Child Safety awareness program for students, parents & Teachers named- KID GLOVE- implemented throughout the state
• Conducted around 18 workshops and 22 hackathons for police cyber training
• Conducted 80 awareness events/ workshops throughout the state, for the public
• Intensive project to prevent child pornography over social media platforms
• Developed geospatial application to pinpoint the location based on mobile cell data
• Prevention of Online Financial Fraud in association With RBI through a 24X7 OTP fraud Monitoring system
• 21 MoUs signed with International and National cybersecurity agencies.

Conclusion

• Recently, the Assam government also inaugurated its cyber dome project in order to empower the state Police to fight cyber challenges. 
• An analysis is the cornerstone of all modern intelligence-led law enforcement activities and critical to all cyber intelligence purposes.
  • Cyberdome analytical capabilities are based on advanced technology-adjusted to the needs of law enforcement.
• As law enforcement agencies, the police are facing ‘‘real case-based scenarios’’ and gaps in research and development.
  • The inadequacy of expertise to deal with the darker side of the exponentially expanding Information Technology is a major roadblock for the Police in India.
  • Acquiring such expertise by recruiting manpower is not a viable option too.
• Hence, such public-private partnerships are the right way to go about it. So Kerala’s Cyberdome Project is an Idea which must be replicated at the National Level.

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