Telangana to have law on cybercrime soon

Draft legislation being prepared with the help of Nalsar, says KTR

Hyderabad: Telangana, known for its pioneering initiatives in various fields, is now heading towards becoming the first State in the country to have its own legislation on cybercrime. The draft legislation is being prepared with the help of Nalsar, Hyderabad-based premier law institute, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said on Thursday.

“Telangana will be the first State in the country to draft out its own legislation on cybercrime. Once we start with the legislation, understand how to enforce it and how to prevent cybercrimes from happening, I think we will again become a pioneer in the entire country,” he said, adding: “The IT Standing Committee of Parliamentarians that visited Hyderabad told us that there is no national cybercrime legislation or policy. So, Telangana’s policy will become the guiding light for the rest of the country.”

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Speaking at the launch of the Hyderabad operations of Ivanti, a cybersecurity solutions company, he said: “Crime is changing even as we speak. Crime is not so much about a few thugs on the street anymore. Crime is also changing its form. Cybercrime is becoming more and more dangerous and more prevalent.”

Stating that people are now living in an interesting world of the Internet of Things, where each device by itself can start talking to others without any human intervention, the Minister said: “I think we are headed in that direction. It is both exciting and scary as well.”

The Minister, recollecting a series he saw on an OTT platform, observed that there were devices which can communicate with people and devices which apparently can start building on one’s behavior, thinking, speech and can possibly read and predict what one would be doing next “which is scary if you ask me.”

“When Covid hit us initially, none of us were sure how to handle it. Many organisations started encouraging work from home once the broadband networks seemed reliable. However, security becomes a huge challenge for enterprises, government and institutions,” he said.

“As politicians, our phones are constantly looked into I am sure. There are people of different hues and shades cutting across the political spectrum who want to know exactly what my strategies are, what my political strategies are etc in winning elections, in contesting, in competing. So, we are constantly paranoid, constantly worried, and constantly looking over the shoulders to what is happening, who is doing what in our phones. Since you said you are protecting 200 million devices, I have two devices and hope you can make them secure as well and hackproof,” he said in a lighter vein.

Stating that Telanagana came up with a cybersecurity policy in 2016, he said: “When we came out it with a policy, it was on how to create an ecosystem that will create more entrepreneurs, create cyber warriors which will ensure our devices, our enterprises, our knowledge, our IP are kept safe. We never thought we would actually run into a situation where we will be caught in a pandemic and everything would go virtual,” Rama Rao said.

“The top five most value technology companies without any exception have made Hyderabad their second largest base outside of their headquarters. Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Micron, Uber, Salesforce, Novartis.. the list goes on. Several marquee names have made Hyderabad their home for research and development,” he said adding that Hyderabad ceased to be a mere back-office location.

“We take a lot of pride in providing amazing talent-pool which can innovate and come up with solutions for the world,” he said.

Company plans

Ivanti announced its plans to will grow its workforce in India to 2,000 in two years. The Minister asked the company to take steps to ensure that at least 1,000 of them are based in Hyderabad only. This time around last year, the company had less than 100 employees in India and has acquired four companies.

“By integrating all the newly acquired companies’ employees, we are creating One Ivanti identity. All employees are collaborating to create a cohesive work environment,” said Nayaki Nayyar, Ivanti Service Management Solutions Group President and Chief Product Officer, in a statement.

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