In a move aimed at checking the growing misuse of the Internet by terror outfits, the government will soon come out with a comprehensive law making it mandatory for Internet companies to share “real-time information” with intelligence and security agencies on national security and terrorism cases.
Highly-placed government sources said various agencies were now studying laws and regulations in other nations, particularly in Europe and the United States, which have managed to rope in these companies in the fight against terror.
The need for such a law was felt with recurring complaints by the security agencies that these companies were often reluctant to give timely information, particularly in an ongoing investigation, due to which their work was hampered.
“Time is of the essence in an ongoing investigation. In a blast case, for instance, the agencies have to move very fast. In such a scenario if we don’t get timely, adequate information, the case may never get solved,” a senior official said.
Intelligence sources said there was considerable use of technology by terror modules in many recent cases in India.
Though the security and intelligence agencies have been constantly upgrading their technological capabilities, they feel legal support will be a shot in the arm.
Most of the information that these agencies will seek, experts say, will relate to suspicious emails, funds transfers and other financial transactions using e-commerce.
Indian agencies have come across many cases where funds were transferred via the Internet by terror modules.
Many terror modules prefer to use emails for communication as these are far harder to intercept compared to cellphones. Tracing where they were sent from is more difficult, and now terrorists are also using chat sites, which are even harder to track.