Need crisis management plan to tackle cybercrime: Study

New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS) A leading industry body on Thursday emphasised the need of a crisis management plan to tackle cybercrime in the country.

The Assocham-PwC joint study said it is important for the law enforcement agencies to have a system which will have a "collaborative framework" for receiving video feeds on a need basis from closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance systems and subsystems.

The study said leveraging the capabilities of a good video management system (VMS) will also allow efficient access to these external camera feeds at the command and control centre.

"Collaborative monitoring of video feeds not only facilitates greater coverage of video surveillance within the city but also serves as deterrence for crimes and assists law enforcement agencies in controlling incident escalation, crime detection and its investigation," the study titled Safe cities: Collaborative monitoring - For the community, by the community said.

It explained that collaborative monitoring is a tool wherein the security and law enforcement agency takes advantage of the extensive network of surveillance cameras deployed by communities across the city as well as the cameras of other private and government establishments on a need basis.

"It is an extremely prudent enabler for police department, as while they strengthen their bond with the communities, they can use any information or footage gathered from these security cameras to support investigation and the prosecution of criminals," the study added.

"The advantage provided by leveraging the extensive network of external cameras ensures enhanced crime monitoring through a cost-effective, widespread and scalable model," it said.

The study, however, noted that there is a need to carefully manage certain risks while implementing the collaborative monitoring framework, like conflict with existing laws and regulatory proposals, lack of awareness within communities, funding related issues, privacy and anonymity related issues and others to garner maximum fruits out of such initiatives.