The Hindu Business Line : Cyber-crime

The Government’s decision to set up a “Panel to deal with cyber-crime” (Business Line, September 11) is welcome. But the report says that the Minister of State for Home Affairs has stated that “Parliamentary standing committee concerned has informed the Home Affairs Ministry that it has cleared the new Cyber-Crime Bill.” It is necessary that the findings of the panel be incorporated in the Bill for better effectiveness and a holistic coverage.

In this context, an informative article in the eWorld supplement (Business Line, August 13) by a former CBI Director on the “Perils in cyber space” is also of great relevance.

He fears that “online social networking can lead unwary youngsters into dangerous waters.” A couple of articles that appeared recently have also drawn attention to the possibility of ‘Net surfing’ by youngsters luring them into dangerous domain, and the need for a conscious effort to checkmate the undesirable fallout of youngsters accessing and using the Internet.

Experts in the field should find out ways of preventing such misuse and abuse of the Net.

The print media has a duty to educate unwary parents and youngsters about the dangers inherent in treading dangerous areas in the cyber-world. The Government should also take note of this slow but worrying development and put in place a proper mechanism to curb the misuse.

T.R. Anandan, Coimbatore