CBI favours monitoring of Internet gateways and networks

In view of terrorists' growing usage of the cyber network for communication, security agencies, including CBI, has asked the govt to amend Information Technology Act to enable investigating and intelligence agencies to monitor the Internet network and gateways


This was opined at the just-concluded Directors and Inspectors Generals Conference being organised in the capital by Intelligence Bureau.

According to sources, monitoring of network was essential as this would help the probe and intelligence agencies in gathering real-time information and take necessary preventive measures.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), used to transmit voice signals as data packets through the Internet, was being misused by some people, posing a serious threat to national security, CBI said in its presentation at the Conference.

The CBI’s stand was supported by representatives attending the conference.

Once he or she calls any number to India using calling cards, the call is routed through VOIP gateway in the foreign country where the voice signals are converted into data packets.

"The same are transmitted over Internet and are converted into voice signals by VOIP gateway in India. The calls are further routed through a local telephone network to the destination numbers as local calls," the CBI said in the presentation.

The investigating agency said such illegal set-ups caused losses to the government in form of Access Deficit Charges (ADC), licence fees and other charges like income, service taxes.

"Also, as the calls cannot be monitored by law enforcement agencies, they present a serious threat to the security of the nation," the CBI, which has registered many cases including that against Reliance InfoComm (before demerger), said in its presentation.

The agency, while calling for strengthening of the IT Act, also favoured legal sanctions for pre-registration of evidence collection tools as e-surveillance and undercover operations besides providing testimonial immunity to undercover agents.

In view of the paucity of staff, the CBI favoured delegating the powers of investigation to an Inspector as not many Deputy Superintendents of Police were available for investigating.


Source: http://india.gov.in



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