The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is working on a project to provide cyber forensic services to law-enforcing and other government and non-government agencies.
The project seeks to support activities using artificial intelligence-based tools to tackle cybersecurity threats. The CDAC Digital Forensic Centre will also undertake problem-oriented research in cyber forensics and allied areas, and help micro, small and medium enterprises to undertake commercial activities in the area of cybersecurity. C-DAC’s Kolkata centre and Indian Institute of Technology-Patna will implement the project with a total budget of Rs. 3.95 crore. MeitY’s contribution is Rs 2 crore.
The centre will conduct research in the field for two years. Once that is over, it will offer training to government agencies to protect their data, said a senior government official privy to the development.
The project proposal was initially made by the chief investigator of C-DAC-Kolkata, said a source. It was set in motion after several meetings and iterations among MeitY, C-DAC-Kolkata, IIT-Patna, and the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, which is funding the capital equipment for the centre.
MeitY had already provided funds to develop AI-based applications envisaged under the project.
Forensic tools developed by C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram, C-DAC Hyderabad, C-DAC Kolkata and other C-DAC centres would be used in the project, instead of importing those.
For training, the centre would use technical content prepared by C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram, C-DAC Hyderabad, and NIELIT Gorakhpur.