Cyber crimes rise in the country: Ahmad

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) A total of 347 cyber crimes were registered across the country in 2004 compared to 471 in the previous year, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmad said today.

Of the 347 crimes, 68 were registered under the IT act and 279 under the IPC, he told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

In 2003, 60 incidents were reported under the IT act and 411 under the IPC.

The department of information technology has set up an expert committee to review existing provisions in the IT Act, 2000, said Mr Ahmad.

The issues under examination are child pornography, video voyeurism, digital evidence examiners, data privacy, e-commerce frauds, phishing and frauds on online auction sites.

The minister said cyber crimes are covered under mutual legal assistance treaties signed by India with other countries.

Besides, Indian is a member of Cyber Crime Technology Information Network System (CCTINS), which is a Japanese government initiative for mutual exchange of information, he said.

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