Kolkata on Wednesday was elevated to the league of elite eight cities that have set up cyber labs to deal with most intriguing crimes in the virtual world — in internet. Since this century is predicted to be the century of crime in the cyber space, such laboratory would be the most handy to ‘net-sleuths.’

The other cities with cyber labs are Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Thane, Chennai, Hyderabad and Haryana. Initiated by the Data Security Council of India  (DSCI) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), Kolkata Police now has the first of its kind cyber lab in Eastern India.

Inaugurated on August 10, by the state industries and information technology minister Shri Partha Chatterjee, the lab will equip the prosecution (police) and judiciary with necessary capacities to deal with cyber security and cyber crime issues and investigation. The lab will also provide guidance to the IT industries in the event of any cyber security breaches.

Nasscom first set up the Mumbai cyber lab way back in 2003. The objective, as envisaged then, was to bridge the ever-increasing gap between cyber crime and the state police’s ability to handle it. “In Kolkata, now there is a dedicated police station to probe cyber crime. The lab would be of immense help to them,” said Joint Commissioner (crime) Damayanti Sen.

Efficacy of this lab can be gauged by the fact that 4,634 officers have been trained at these four cyber labs in Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Bnagalore. Add to it another 1,366 people from banks, IT and central excise departments, military, bar associations, and schools and colleges who have participated in outreach programmes on cyber security awareness held at these labs.

Nasscom regional director (East) Suparno Moitro said “The primary objective is to form a pool of trainers or resource persons, who will train all stakeholders, mostly from law enforcement agencies.” The lab will conduct training in computer forensic (live and dead system), credit card frauds, online offences, method of cyber crime investigation and seizure of digital evidences.

Armed with two forensic work stations, access data forensic tool kit, password recovery software, write blocker, C-DAC cyber Check Suite, device forensic suite, numerous software analysis devices, E-fence sotware, the lab is ready to function.

Mooted in 2009 after the Bangalore cyber lab, the proposal to set up a similar cyber lab in Kolkata was repeatedly plagued due to lack of private financial backing. The logjam was cleared by the new government, specially the department of IT, which sponsored the project.