**Union Home Minister Amit Shah Calls for Strengthened Cybersecurity Measures**
The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, emphasized the need for a coordinated effort among various government agencies and institutions to combat cybercrime during a national conference on 'Tackling Cyber-Enabled Frauds and Dismantling the Ecosystem'.
Shah underscored the gravity of cybercrimes in India, stating that one person becomes a victim every 37 seconds on an average, with 100 falling prey to it every hour. He highlighted the government's success in safeguarding Rs 8,189 crore through 361,000 cyber fraud complaints.
The home minister stressed that cyber security has transcended economic security and become an integral part of national security. He added, "Had we not taken adequate steps, cyber fraud would have turned into a national crisis."
Shah emphasized the importance of effective coordination among institutions to combat cybercrime, saying, "Each institution has a critical role and responsibility, and close coordination among all stakeholders is essential to achieve the desired outcomes." He noted that this initiative by the CBI and I4C will help connect various government departments and agencies with one another and ensure effective implementation.
The home minister outlined key pillars of strategy to combat cybercrime, including real-time reporting of cybercrime, a robust network of forensic laboratories, capacity building, research and development, promotion of cyber awareness, and ensuring cyber hygiene in cyberspace. He also emphasized the importance of creating a coordinated and highly-secure ecosystem through close coordination among institutions.
Shah highlighted the unprecedented growth in digital transactions in India, with over 181 billion UPI transactions recorded in 2024 alone. He underscored the need to further strengthen and secure the country's digital payment ecosystem at the global level.
The home minister also inaugurated a new cybercrime branch of the CBI and launched a State Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (S4C) dashboard of the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), besides conferring medals to CBI officers. He urged all private, public, and cooperative banks to immediately adopt the mule account hunter software jointly developed by the government of India and the Reserve Bank of India to tackle money laundering by cybercriminals.
The two-day conference is being attended by senior officials and experts from Central and state law enforcement agencies, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Department of Financial Services (DFS), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), public and private sector banks, cooperative banks, NABARD, fintech companies, payment platforms, telecom service providers, social media, Cloud service intermediaries, cybersecurity experts, and international law enforcement and policy representatives.
Shah's remarks come as the government seeks to strengthen its efforts against cybercrime. The CBI Director Praveen Sood also addressed the conference, highlighting the agency's achievements in combating cybercrime over the past decade.
The I4C has set up a reporting portal that has been accessed over 230 million times since its inception in 2020. As of November 30, 2025, more than 8.2 million cybercrime-related complaints had been registered on the portal.