The parliamentary committee on Home affairs urged the Indian government to ban the VPN services in India as they termed the virtual private network i.e. the VPN services as a threat that can also counter some troubles such as cyber threats and other activities. According to some sources of MediaNama, the parliamentary committee also put the reasons of how VPN services can be proved threatening.
The committee explained that the use of VPN apps and tools, which are available widely, can allow criminals who remain anonymous online. VPN services are used by most of the companies in India as VPN services help to secure their network and also some of their digital assets from hackers. Especially during this lockdown, these VPN tools became more important as the work from home concept was also increased and employees had to use their unsecured home internet connection. VPN services also help the users to access content i.e. non-accessible or blocked in the country. One can also stay anonymous to a certain extent online. Sudhir VPN is immense for the companies for securing the network.
But the parliamentary committee has also requested to put a check on the use of VPN tools and the dark web. Thus the committee has recommended to permanently block the VPN services in India along with some help from internet service providers of India. The committee stated “the committee notes with anxiety the technological challenges posed by VPN services and dark web that can bypass cybersecurity valves and allow criminals to remain anonymous online. As of date, VPN can easily be downloaded as many websites are providing such facilities and advertising them. The committee, therefore, recommends that the ministry of home affairs should coordinate with the ministry of electronics and information technology to identify and permanently block such VPN with the help of internet service providers”
This parliamentary committee has recommended this after months of the department of telecommunication, that is the DoT, had scrapped the earlier IT business regulations and also so the call centers of India so that they can ease the usage of VPNs. In June, the government simplified the rules. These recent steps had to help the employees who work from home because of the covid-19 pandemic.
This was titled, “action taken by the government on the recommendation/observations contained in the 233rd report on the atrocities and crimes against women and children.” On August 10th this report was then submitted to the Rajya sabha but the committee was not satisfied by the response which was also given by MeitY (ministry of electronics and information technology). As the IT ministry mentioned some rules through which the government can block information from public access they did not include any specific response concerning the blockage of VPN.
The parliamentary committee also suggested that the development of a coordination mechanism with international agencies should be now done so that they can ensure that these VPNs get blocked permanently. In addition to this, the committee also wants the ministry to take some steps so that they can strengthen the tracking mechanism by improving and developing state-of-the-art technology and to put a check on the use of VPN tools and the Dark Web.
Well adding to this list, the parliamentary committee also recommended the government to set up some more cyber forensic laboratories. Further, the parliamentary committee also requested the home ministry to take appropriate action and to empower all state police and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to examine cybercrime regardless of state boundaries. The committee has also asked to refresh the courses on cybercrime for law enforcement agencies.
