Tech

Identify Cyber Hotspots, Maintain Profile of Cyber Crimes: Parliamentary Panel

Published

5 days ago

March 17, 2023

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A parliamentary panel has recommended that the Union Home Ministry may encourage the state governments to identify cyber hotspots in their state and maintain a data profile on the cyber crimes being committed in those hotspots.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by BJP MP Brijlal noted that it believed that despite the boom in Internet connectivity in the country, there might be a sizeable population in various states and Union Territories which may have very limited access to it due to various reasons.

“The committee recommends that the ministry may encourage state governments to identify cyber hotspots in their state and maintain data profile on the cyber crimes being committed in those hotspots and the measures taken to contain those crimes,” the panel said in its report submitted to Parliament on Friday.

This data, the panel said, may be collected by the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ and shared with other states for framing of policies by them to tackle such types of cyber crimes.

The committee, therefore, recommended that the police force may adopt various strategies such as publicising its achievements in the meetings of the community, village, and district-level committees at regular intervals for increasing the police-people interaction, organising awareness weeks and Jan Sabhas, among others. The focus should be on a nationwide capacity-building campaign, with an emphasis on developing and inculcating high professional and ethical standards as well as attitudinal and social skills in the personnel, it noted.

The committee noted that states and Union Territories have been requested to install IP cameras at strategic locations in all police stations and to conduct a periodic audit of all the installed CCTVs.

The committee further notes that the Ministry of Law and Justice has been approached to advise states and Union Territories for installing CCTVs at district courts. The panel said that it would like to be apprised of the status of action taken by the states and Union Territories in this matter.

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Tech

US FTC Seeks Information on Cloud Computing Companies’ Business Practices

Published

6 mins ago

March 22, 2023

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The Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday it is seeking information from the public on cloud computing companies’ business practices including details on their market power, competition and potential security issues.

The US cloud computing business is dominated by four providers that include Amazon.com, Microsoft, Alphabet‘s Google and Oracle. None of the companies immediately responded to a request for comment.

“Swathes of the economy now seem reliant on a small number of cloud computing providers,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan on Twitter. She added that the FTC “is seeking public input on how the current market structure and business practices of cloud providers affect competition and data security.”

The FTC and Justice Department under President Joe Biden have taken a strong stance against the perceived abuse of market power by challenging numerous mergers, cracking down on what it calls “junk fees”, and other actions aimed at giving consumers more say in the services they use.

Recently, regulators have started to focus on the cloud. Europe’s antitrust authority began probing Microsoft’s licensing agreements that discouraged rival cloud usage, prompting changes by the company in October that critics still called insufficient. Fees to take data out of various providers’ clouds have also drawn scrutiny from smaller players.

FTC staff are interested in the impact of cloud computing on industries including “healthcare, finance, transportation, e-commerce, and defense,” according to its press release.

The public will have until May 22 to submit a comment on the FTC “Request for information”.

The agency is asking for comments on which segments of the economy rely on a handful of cloud service providers, detail on contract negotiations, incentives to buy more services from a single provider, detail on services provided and information on notifications related to security.

The consumer protection agency noted it has targeted companies that failed to put in place security safeguards to protect data stored on third-party cloud computing services including one involving the alcohol delivery platform Drizly and another focused on education technology provider Chegg.

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Tech

Surrendered Naxals tie knot in presence of police – ThePrint –

Published

35 mins ago

March 22, 2023

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Sukma (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 22 (ANI): Displaying a sensible approach, police in the worst insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh solemnized the marriage of surrendered Naxals on Wednesday.

Under the campaign ‘puna narkom’ (a term coined in the local Gondi dialect which means new dawn), police have solemnized the marriage of two surrendered Naxals, said Sukma Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Sharma.

Sharma further elaborated that the cadres were identified as Jitendra alias Sanna and Kartami Deve.

Sanna was active in the banned organisation as a member of platoon 30 under the Kertapal area committee and carrying a bounty of Rs 2 lakh while Deve was associated with the Naxal outfit as a member of Mahupadar LOS and carrying a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh. Deve surrendered before the police in July 2021 while Sanna quit the red movement in May last year.

After shunning the path of violence, they were supporting police in anti-naxal exercises, SP Sharma added.

“Recently, the duo turned to my office and expressed their desire to marry each other. Acting swiftly, the officers were directed to ensure necessary arrangements for their marriage by establishing coordination with the Woman and Child Welfare Department,” the officer said.

The marriage of surrendered naxals was solemnized during the mass marriage programme hosted under the state government’s scheme on March 21, SP Sharma said.

As per the information received, SP Sharma and other officials registered their active participation in the marriage of surrendered naxals.

Meanwhile, the SP urged caders associated with the banned organisation to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream of society. (ANI)

This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

Tech

Govt launches app for taxpayers to view TDS, interest, and more

Published

1 hour ago

March 22, 2023

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The Income Tax (IT) Department has launched a mobile app that will enable taxpayers to check their information as available in the Annual Information Statement (AIS)/ Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). Called ‘AIS for Taxpayer’, the app shows a detailed statement that lists all of your financial transactions for a given financial year.
App availability
AIS for Taxpayer is available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store free of cost. To access this mobile app, taxpayers need to register on the app by providing PAN, authenticate with the OTP sent on mobile number and e-mail registered on the e-filing portal.

After the authentication, the taxpayer can set a 4-digit PIN to access the mobile app. The app will also give taxpayers using Android and iPhones an option to provide feedback on the information displayed.
“The app is aimed to provide a comprehensive view of the AIS/TIS to the taxpayer which displays the information collected from various sources pertaining to the taxpayer,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.
Consumer benefits of app
The taxpayers will be able to view information related to TDS/TCS, interest, dividends, share transactions, stock trades, mutual fund activities, tax payments, income tax refunds, and other information (GST Data, Foreign Remittances, and more).

“This is another initiative of the Income Tax Department in the area of providing enhanced taxpayer services facilitating ease of compliance,” the IT department said in a statement.
How to access on the web:
Login to URL https://www.incometax.gov.in/ on your web browser.
Enter your details to login on the e-filing portal.
Click on “Annual Information Statement (AIS)” under the “Services” tab from the e-filing portal.
Click on the AIS tab, on the homepage.
Select the relevant FY and click on the AIS tile to view the Annual Information Statement.