Tamil Nadu sets up state cyber crime coordination centre

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has designated its existing Cyber Crime Wing headquarters in Chennai as the Tamil Nadu State Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (TN-S4C), creating a state-level command and coordination mechanism to tackle increasingly sophisticated cyber offences.

The move follows the Union Home Ministry's framework for setting up state cyber crime coordination centres and the Supreme Court's directions on creating an effective mechanism to tackle digital arrest offences.

The TN-S4C will function as Tamil Nadu's counterpart to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and serve as a 24x7 operational hub for cyber incidents and financial fraud intervention. The centre will coordinate with district cyber crime police stations, banks, financial institutions, telecom and internet service providers, CERT-In, I4C and other agencies.

The new structure will have a State Cyber Command Centre (SCCC) and a State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre (SCCIC) as its key operational arms.

The state government has sanctioned 172 police posts for the two units. The SCCC will have 76 posts and the SCCIC will have 91, apart from five senior officers heading the overall structure.

The SCCC will operate the 1930 cybercrime helpline control room, oversee e-Zero FIRs and coordinate SIM and IMEI blocking of numbers and devices suspected to be linked to cybercrime. It will also undertake cyber patrolling, open-source intelligence, social media intelligence and dark web surveillance.

The SCCIC will handle complex cases requiring specialised investigation and inter-state or international coordination, including organised cybercrime syndicates, ransomware attacks, cryptocurrency offences, large-scale financial fraud and other technologically sophisticated crimes.

The centre will also maintain a centralised dashboard to track cybercrime complaints, financial fraud responses, investigations, arrests, recoveries, seizures and convictions. It will develop cyber threat intelligence databases and analyse emerging crime patterns to recommend technology and policy interventions.

The government has adopted a hybrid staffing model involving specialised experts from outside the police department. Six experts have been empanelled in areas including dark web investigation, threat intelligence, digital and mobile forensics, malware analysis, log analysis and vulnerability assessment.

The state has sanctioned Rs 8.88 crore to expand the 1930 helpline call centre with 15 outsourced seats for three years. A legal adviser will also be appointed on contract.

The TN-S4C will also coordinate statewide cyber operations, prevention campaigns and awareness programmes through Cyber Arangam and cyber crime police stations. Its performance will be reviewed monthly, with quarterly reviews by the Home Department.