The Indian government will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify \u2018mule\u2019 accounts used by cybercriminals to store illicit funds, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah. <\/p>\n
Chairing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on \u2018Cyber Security and Cyber Crime\u2019 in New Delhi on Monday (February 10), Shah disclosed that 805 apps and 3,266 website links had been blocked following recommendations from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), the government\u2019s cybercrime monitoring and detection unit. <\/p>\n
He said 399 banks and financial intermediaries are now working in coordination with the government, resulting in over 600,000 suspicious data points being flagged. More than 1.9 million mule accounts have been identified, preventing fraudulent transactions worth Rs 2,038 crore. <\/p>\n
Strengthening cybersecurity, awareness <\/p>\n
The Union Home Minister said AI will play a key role in detecting mule accounts, with efforts underway in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and financial institutions to develop a robust tracking system. The government aims to disable such accounts before they become active. <\/p>\n
A \u2018mule account\u2019 refers to a bank account used by fraudsters to launder stolen money. To combat financial cybercrime, helpline number \u20181930\u2019 has been set up as a centralised platform to assist victims in blocking compromised cards and accounts. <\/p>\n
Shah also emphasised the importance of public awareness, reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s message \u2014 \u2018STOP-THINK-TAKE ACTION\u2019 \u2014 to encourage vigilance against cyber threats. He pointed out that India’s rapid expansion of digital infrastructure has naturally led to an increase in cyber incidents, making cybersecurity a priority. <\/p>\n
Addressing the broader cyber landscape, Shah described cyberspace as an intricate network of software, services, and users. He stressed that effective control of cyber fraud requires a multi-faceted approach targeting all three elements. <\/p>\n
Digital growth, cybersecurity challenges <\/p>\n
Shah noted that India\u2019s digital transformation has accelerated over the past decade, with 95 per cent of villages now digitally connected and one lakh gram panchayats equipped with WiFi hotspots. He highlighted the exponential growth in internet usage, which has surged 4.5 times in the past 10 years. <\/p>\n
In 2024 alone, digital transactions in India reached 246 trillion, amounting to Rs 17.221 trillion through UPI. The country accounted for 48 per cent of all global digital transactions, solidifying its position as the world\u2019s third-largest startup ecosystem. <\/p>\n
He further stated that the digital economy contributed Rs 32 trillion to India\u2019s GDP in 2023 \u2014 around 12 per cent of the total \u2014 while generating 15 million jobs. With the digital sector now making up 20 per cent of the national economy, cybersecurity has become a crucial area of focus for the government. <\/p>\n
The Ministry of Home Affairs aims to work towards a future with zero cybercrime cases, said Shah. He also underscored the need for continued vigilance and proactive measures in securing India’s digital infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Indian government will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify \u2018mule\u2019 accounts used by cybercriminals to store illicit funds, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Chairing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on \u2018Cyber Security and Cyber Crime\u2019 in New Delhi on Monday (February 10), Shah disclosed that 805 apps and 3,266 website links had been blocked following recommendations from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), the government\u2019s cybercrime monitoring and detection unit. He said 399 banks and financial intermediaries are now working in coordination with the government, resulting in over 600,000 suspicious data points being flagged. More than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-904789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}