Bengal’s expanding IT and ITeS footprint has brought the focus on cybersecurity to the fore, prompting a call for the state government to introduce baseline cyber standards at its IT parks and fast fund-freeze protocols to curb escalating digital fraud risks.
Bengal currently hosts 22 IT parks, two electronic manufacturing clusters and a hardware park, while several marquee IT and telecom companies are scaling up operations in Calcutta’s Bengal Silicon Valley hub.
“The city today has a rapidly expanding IT–ITeS ecosystem, and Bengal Silicon Valley has emerged as a key technology hub. This naturally attracts businesses — but it is also drawing financially motivated cybercriminals,” said Rajesh Chhabra, general manager, India and South Asia, Acronis, a global cybersecurity and data protection firm.
He warned that the widespread adoption of AI — across enterprises and by individuals — has lowered the cost and complexity of cybercrime. “Attackers now use AI voice cloning, deepfake IDs and automated phishing tools to run hyper-targeted, highly realistic scams at scale. Many organisations adopt AI tools without securing data pipelines, access controls or model integrity, creating openings for attackers. This imbalance is enabling AI-powered fraud to grow faster than the defences designed to stop it,” he told The Telegraph.
According to Chhabra, states that have seen measurable improvements in cyber outcomes share three common elements: integrated reporting and analytics through national platforms to map mule accounts and criminal networks; strong coordination between police, banks and telecom operators to enable rapid fund freezes; and sustained public-awareness campaigns, especially targeting senior citizens and first-time digital users.
“It is essential for the government to further strengthen cyber units, establish rapid fund-freeze mechanisms, enforce baseline cyber standards for IT parks and important industries, and combine regional data with national platforms for faster inquiry,” he said.
Enterprises, he added, must also adopt a “cyber-resilience” framework, including immutable backups, multi-factor authentication, timely patching and secured AI/ML workflows.
Citing Maharashtra’s model, Chhabra noted that the state has integrated cyber helplines with real-time financial fraud monitoring, while cross-state crackdowns have helped dismantle “digital-arrest” syndicates. “This is a model Bengal can expand further,” he said.