Home Minister announces Mammootty as captain of Kerala Police Cyber Security

KOCHI: Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that with cybercrimes on the rise, the focus should be on establishing effective preventive measures before crimes occur rather than investigating them after they have been committed. He was inaugurating the cyber security initiative 'CLICK' (Community-Led Initiative for Cyber Resilient Kerala), designed by the Cyber Wing of the Kerala Police under the leadership of the home department, with the aim of making Kerala completely cyber-resilient by 2027. He also said that in the age of artificial intelligence, it is essential to develop innovative measures to ensure cyber security.

More than 54,000 cyber fraud complaints were registered last year. Cyber fraud can be prevented by taking precautions such as using strong passwords, updating apps regularly, keeping data secure and exercising caution before clicking on suspicious links. The minister also advised victims of cyber fraud to immediately report the incident by calling the cyber helpline number 1930.

The home minister's office will become fully digitalised from November 3. As part of this initiative, systems will be introduced to enable the public to submit complaints and ensure that they receive prompt responses. A dashboard will also be set up to facilitate communication with the public and monitor the progress of complaints, said the minister.

The home minister announced Mammootty as the Kerala Police' Cyber Security Captain at a function held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi. Mammootty said that every member of the younger generation should become a captain in the fight against cybercrime. He also presented CLICK Captain caps to 10 selected students.

State police chief Ravada Azad Chandra Sekhar, ADGP in charge of law and order P Vijayan, Police Advisor A Hemachandran, Digital University Vice-Chancellor Saji Gopinath, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Vice-Chancellor Dr P Venkat Rangan, Mayor advocate V K Mini Mol, Kochi City Police Commissioner R Nishanthini and Cyber Operations S P Ankit Ashokan, among others, attended the function.