As cyber threats continue to evolve across the country, the Odisha government has initiated steps to establish a State Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (S4C) to strengthen cybercrime prevention, investigation, and intelligence sharing.
The State Home Department has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to prioritise the establishment of the S4C following a communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The proposed centre will enable seamless exchange of cybercrime intelligence and threat information with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
The MHA has urged all states and Union Territories to speed up the creation and operationalisation of S4Cs, which are designed to function as state-level nodal agencies for the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrimes.
In a letter, Home Department Joint Secretary Minakshi Behera asked the DGP to take the necessary steps to establish the S4C in Odisha and nominate an officer of at least the rank of DIG to coordinate with the MHA on the initiative.
At present, S4Cs have already been established in 10 states, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The proposed S4C will function as the state-level counterpart of the I4C with a broader role covering cyber investigations, cybercrime prevention, and cybersecurity response. The MHA noted that cybercrime patterns differ across states due to factors such as demographics, digital adoption, local languages, and socio-economic conditions. The centre will support state-level data analytics, hotspot mapping, and trend analysis to improve targeted enforcement and preventive measures.
According to the ministry, the S4C will operate as a dedicated police unit under the Head of the Police Force (HoPF), with its chief reporting directly to the HoPF. The centre will include 2 to 3 specialised wings responsible for cyber investigation, cyber operations, and cybersecurity, all supervised by a senior official.
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