Director of Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TSCSB), Shikha Goel, at a cyber crime facility in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: File photo
Amid the rising menace of cyber crime cases in the country, Telangana’s dedicated Cyber Forensics Lab (TGCFL) is all set to take up investigations in the coming weeks.
The lab is currently being developed adjacent to the Telangana State Forensic Science Laboratory (TGFSL) in Red Hills, Hyderabad. As per senior officials in the State forensic science department, the lab is 90% complete and will start operations next month.
“While Telangana is doing great in the forensic science domain, the key gap that remains is on the front of cyber forensics. As of today, the TGFSL is overburdened with cyber forensic investigations and so major push is needed especially amid a major spike in cyber crimes,” said TGFSL Director Shikha Goel.
The new lab will have equipment for analysing evidence including internet artifacts and digital footprints, data retrieval and voice comparison among other tests. Some of them include UFED 4PC, MSAB XRY, Oxygen Forensic detective, Atolla Task force, ENCASE, Magnet Axiom, PC-3000 Bundle and Flash, DVR Examiner, Mandet, AmpedFIVE, FaceVACS, EdiTracker, SIS II, CSL, ACU Expert and Batvox.
In an under-trial murder case, the cyber forensics team of the TGFSL has been able to submit a report in record time by examining the mobile phone of an accused person.
“Examination regarding the meta data of the videos i.e. date and time of capture, device information etc. and to check for any editing in the media files recorded, the videos and images pertaining to crime were retrieved using UFED and examined with Mandet and EdiTracker tools for authentication,” explained the official.
Ecosystem enhancement
Not just a dedicated lab, the department is also looking to hire more permanent experts to investigate and analyse cyber crime cases.
“Even though we have the latest equipment, there is a dearth of cyber-forensic experts with only three permanent experts in FSL headquarters in Hyderabad. We will recruit additional staff shortly,” the official said.
Including the temporary employees, a total of 18 employees are currently working in the cyber forensics lab.
At present, the TGFSL is working with 1,573 cybercrime cases while 409 were added to the list in the financial year 2023-24. A shot in the arm is the recruitment of additional cyber forensic experts, which will significantly improve the turnover rates in key cyber fraud cases.
