The Indian Merchants Chamber Organized an Interactive Meeting Withmr. Ahmad Javed

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Indian Merchants’ Chamber organized an interactive meeting withMr. Ahmad Javed

Police Commissioner of Mumbai, on Safety of Citizens of Mumbai & Cyber Safety on Wednesday, November 25, 2015. Also present to speak on cyber-crime at the event was Mr. Vijay Mukhi, Cybercrime expert and MD of Vijay Mukhi Computer Institute.

Mr. Dilip Piramal, President, IMC, in his welcome address said that, "Mumbai is one of the most populated cities in the world and in terms of population density of around 29650 persons per sq km, 2.8 million households and 2.5 million vehicles. The city is also the lifeline of Indian economy and home to the country’s major ports and airports, important financial institutions like Reserve Bank of India, Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, headquarters of most of India's banks and insurance companies, corporate companies, multi nationals and media and entertainment industries. Policing such a dense city spread linearly is not just difficult but a Herculean task. With increasing threats of terror attacks, the Mumbai Police always remains on the edge.” Mr. Piramal complimented Mumbai Police for keeping Mumbai relatively safe despite challenges and inadequate force.

Financial frauds such as phishing, hacking, tempering source code, corporate-company cyber-crime, infecting system, defacement, too, have gone up, stated Mr. Vijay Mukhi in his brief address. He further stated that most of the cases don’t get reported. When debit or credit card frauds are reported, banks repay the loss to the customers, but refrain from filing a criminal complaint. Agreeing on Mr. Mukhi’s statement, Mumbai’s top cop Mr. Ahmed Javedexpressed the view that instances of cybercrime are higher than those registered with the police because of lack of awareness among the public and alerted the audience as to what the cyber world is doing and what can be done. Alerting the audience as to what was happening in the cyber world, Mr. Javed cited instances which could happen to both educated and uneducated people. He cautioned people to discourage criminals from their fraudulent ways by way of keeping a vigilant update on their finances.

Mr. Javed Ahmad stated that the efforts of the police force is now focused on making people aware and sensitizing them to the situation. The team is educating people with the traffic and civic sense, and alerting them of the ways a criminal mind works. A traffic police helpline was also shared – 8454999999 to provide assistance to the citizens and to further enhance security in the city, CCTV cameras would be installed, which would be complete by next month in South Mumbai & by May next year in Suburbs. Mr. Javed also spoke about identity theft and cyber blackmails, which aremodern time dangers that are growing due to ease of access to others’ photographs, which are easily available in various social media platforms.

Lastly, Mr. Javed Ahmad’s parting thoughts to the gathering were to have a strong security system in place to safeguard one’s personal and business life.

This interactive meeting was attended by 80people, including managing committee members, and media.

Vijaya Das

Deputy Director