Investigations have thrown up the names of two political parties and another outfit based in Pakistan involved in the “hate campaign” and further investigations are on to check their authenticity. Top government officials said 60 per cent of the inflammatory online content has come from abroad, confirming more than 38 per cent from Pakistan while the rest, nearly 40 per cent, is believed to have been generated within the country.
“Whatever we are doing, be it Facebook or SMSes, we have got much information. All of this is under investigation,” Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said when asked what action was being taken. Asked about proof of Pakistan’s involvement, Mr Shinde said, “Nobody knows from where we got the proof and we will not tell anybody where we got the proof from.”
“We want the social media to cooperate but if some networking sites have not blocked the offensive images and Web content, action will be taken against them in coordination with the IT ministry,” a senior MHA official said. Government agencies will use the evidence gathered from other countries through legal channels to nail the complicity of Pakistani elements behind the cyber war on India.
Investigators are also facing a tough challenge tracking suspects within the country who too have posted objectionable content on the Internet since proxy servers have been used to put out the material on the Internet. Only four persons have been arrested — three in Bengaluru and one in Coimbatore — for involvement in sending the controversial SMSes.
While the security agencies are finding it difficult to block Web content on social networking sites like Twitter, it is also revealed that government agencies involved in cyber and technical intelligence were a bit slow responding to the cyber warfare directed against India. The agencies are currently also facing technical difficulties blocking 10 other Web pages, some of which are now under reconsideration.
The government has decided to go in for massive “capacity building” for organisations like NTRO and Computer Emergency Response Team India (CERT-IN).