Cyber Crime Cell runs out of disc space for complaints

Hundreds of complaints have flooded the system for Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Cell making it run out of storage capacity.

Officially known as National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C), it is mandated to solve cases related to cyber space like online harassment and fraud, identity theft and such which the tradition police and investigators have little knowledge about.

NR3C is the only unit of its kind in the country and in addition to the directly receiving complaints of citizens it also assists other law enforcement agencies in their own cases.

According to an NR3C additional director, the workload and backlog has become phenomenal, besides individuals, the local police also send them cases for forensic analysis.

He said that while there was no shortage of criminals in the real world, the cyber space too was swarming with people causing pain and misery to citizens.

Established in 2007, the NR3C was now short of space to store data of complainants, he confided. "In recent months, the department has started the process of verification before registering a complaint," he said. "The verification process sifts the frivolous complaints and only genuine cases are registered," he said.

The shortage of space for data of complainants was benefitting the suspects because it was delaying the forensic analysis of the evidence, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2021.