Bengaluru: In a significant step to combat the growing threat of cybercrimes and enhance cybersecurity, the Karnataka government has established a new Cyber Command, to be headed by a Director General of Police (DGP). The move comes as Bengaluru alone accounts for 20% of all cybercrimes reported in Indian megacities, with over 52,000 cases registered across the State in the last four years - the highest among southern states.
The Cyber Command, notified on April 9, marks a major restructuring by bringing together all cyber-related functions - cybercrime investigation, cybersecurity, misinformation management, and multi-agency coordination, under a single umbrella.
Until now, these responsibilities were fragmented across various units of the Karnataka State Police and the E-Governance Department, often resulting in poor coordination and delayed responses to cyber threats. With this new command, all 45 cybercrime police stations in the State will now report directly to the DGP (Cyber Command).
Pronab Mohanty, currently serving as DGP (Cybercrimes and Narcotics), CID, will take charge as the first DGP (Cyber Command). The unit will initially operate using existing CID resources.
For the first time, the designated DGP will also serve as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Karnataka, streamlining the State’s approach to both law enforcement and cybersecurity. The DGP (Cyber Command) will report to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, acknowledging the multi-agency nature of cyber threats, rather than the DG&IGP of Karnataka State Police.
The officer will also be a part of the Home Minister-chaired Special Empowered Committee on cybercrime and the Multi-Department Coordination Committee to tackle online misinformation and disinformation.
The launch of the Cyber Command comes close on the heels of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Kaveri 2.0, the State’s property registration portal, which disrupted services for days and caused significant financial losses to the exchequer.
The unified Cyber Command is expected to strengthen Karnataka’s cyber resilience and offer a more coordinated and swift response to digital threats.
BI Bureau
