Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Police have decided to start an awareness campaign to sensitise citizens about cyber crimes.
In the first phase of the campaign, they have posted 10 cyber security tips on its official Facebook page.
The security tips include good password management, sensitive browsing for online banking and shopping, updating anti-virus softwares regularly and content shared on social networking sites. Police are also planning to distribute leaflets to make people aware about ever-growing cyber crimes.
"Our motive is to make the Internet users aware, so that they don't become vulnerable targets for cyber criminals. Users should watch out for contents before sharing those on social networking sites. Criminals can befriend social networking site users and can get information related to the users job and their vacation plans which could help them access other valuable data," said a police official. "Sensitive browsing such as banking or shopping should only be done on a device that belongs to you and on a network that you trust. Whether it is a friend's phone or a public computer of a cyber café, datas could be copied or stolen," warns one of the security tips on the Facebook page.
Police said around 30 cases related to cyber crimes were being reported every year in Bhubaneswar. The nature of the reported cases included uploading of pornographic materials, offensive e-mails, fraudulent transactions and cyber defamations.
Internet users welcomed the initiative and said it would be helpful for them. "Excellent piece of information to all Internet users," said a post on the Facebook page.
The Facebook page has also become a major platform for the police to receive complaints and suggestions from the public. The Facebook page, which was launched in November 2013, has so far received 14,000 likes. Although the government had planned to set up a cyber police station in Bhubaneswar two years ago, it is yet to materialise. As a result, victims of cyber frauds lodge complaints with the cyber police station in Cuttack. The government had sanctioned Rs 1.25 crore for the cyber police station in Cuttack.
