Realising the threat being faced by the cyber world, the Indian government has planned to hire spies in the virtual world at a large scale. In a recent high-level meeting of security agencies, policies to hire cyber spies and the prospect of planting insiders in the virtual world were discussed.

During the meeting, the agencies also decided to frame guidelines to protect these virtual spies, if they are exposed. Further, these virtual spies would be awarded for their work with medals, it was discussed.

"Hiring virtual spies would be a part of long-term counter-terrorism strategies," said a senior IPS officer, who was part of the meeting. He also said that the policy and guidelines to hire and protect would be formed on the lines of those in the United States.

"In the US and Britain, virtual spies have not just entered into darknet or social platforms to keep an eye on activities of terror groups and criminal, but have also infiltrated the space of online games, played by millions of people across the globe, to conduct surveillance and scoop up data," the officer further explained.

For this, the Indian government has formulated a scheme for "terror-related expenditure covering counter-terrorism on the lines of security-related expenditure of the Ministry of Home Affairs Budgets."

The members of National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), newly-formed National Cyber Investigation Agency (NCIA), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and other security and intelligence agencies have been directed to frame a proper policy and guidelines.

These intelligence operatives will be able to decrypt communication networks and get exact information on terror activities being conducted on cyber platforms.

"It has also been noticed that these virtual enemies steal secrets, gain influence and attack the economy," said the officer. He explained that terrorism is no longer bound by the means of creating harm in the physical world but it holds an agenda often, religious, cultural, social, economic and political.

The government's plan is not only to take defensive steps to protect infrastructure but also to go on an offensive to counter the activities of cybercriminals.

FORMING POLICIES