Telangana citizens lose ₹4-₹5 crore every day to cyber criminals: police official

Telangana IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu; Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad C.V. Anand; DGP (Cyber Security Bureau) Shikha Goel and others at Annual Cyber Security Knowledge Summit-2.0 in Hyderabad on Wednesday (November 6, 2024).
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Telangana citizens are losing between ₹4-₹5 crore every day to cyber criminals, making it among the top five victim States in the country, Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) director Shikha Goel said. The 1930 helpline records a minimum of 1,200 distressed calls from citizens across the state.

Speaking at the second edition of Hyderabad Annual Cybersecurity Knowledge (H.A.C.K 2.0) Summit held in Hyderabad on Wednesday (November 6, 2024), the police official said that 96% of the cybercrimes are caused due to human error. This can include clicking on fraudulent links, sharing sensitive and personal information with fraudsters among others.

Global cybercrime to touch $10.5 trillion

Underlining the magnitude of cybercrime losses,the official said that the global cybercrime loss is expected to touch $10.5 trillion by 2035, making it equivalent to the third largest economy in the world followed by USA and China.

The summit brought together cybersecurity experts, industry leaders, government officials, law enforcement representatives and enthusiasts to address the evolving cyber threat landscape. It delved into critical topics such as the cyber threat landscape in Telangana, AI and cybersecurity, and digital citizenship.

Maharashtra additional director general of police Brijesh Singh said that the governance of the internet is lopsided. The official highlighted the need for compliance from social media platforms to assist in cybercrime investigations.

“Time has come for formalisation of the coordination between law enforcement, industry and academia,” Mr Singh added.

Telangana’s IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu, who was chief guest of the summit, seconded the point and called for improved coordination between academia and industry for enablement in the field of cyber security in Telangana.

He said that Cybersecurity will be at the heart of ‘Digital Telangana’ which is in the making and that the state will be the frontrunner in implementing solutions which will be proposed in this summit.

As part of the summit, ‘I AM READY’ campaign was launched, led by Bharani Kumar Aroll and Advi Sesh, to promote digital literacy and online safety.