Date:29/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/29/stories/2008112957620200.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Proposal to embed identity tags in laptop computers

Anand Haridas

Software in the laptop can help to track it, as one could do using IMEI for mobile phones.

KOCHI: If the City Police can get its proposal implemented, laptop computers will soon have unique identification marks, like the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) for mobile phones, to check thefts and misuse.

As a first step, the City Police have made a presentation to Microsoft. “A couple of officials from Microsoft were here recently. They are now working on the proposal and we are expecting to hear from them soon,” said Manoj Abraham, City Police Commissioner.

The proposal forwarded by the City Police includes provision incorporated into the software loaded in the laptop computer that would help to track it, as one could do using IMEI in the case of mobile phones, once it is logged on to the Internet. This is expected to check the misuse of laptop computers and recover stolen ones.

The City Police are now holding discussions with Microsoft to take up the drive against software piracy.

The Cyber Cell of the City Police now has direct contact with all email providers and online social networking sites. With almost all basic facilities in place for fighting cyber crime, the cell is flooded with complaints.

“The number of complaints has so exceeded our capability that we had to turn down complaints from other districts. Now, we have given training for personnel in Ernakulam Rural, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki for setting up cyber cells over there,” said Mr. Abraham.

Most of the cases reported to the Cyber Cells were misuse of mobile phones, theft and abuse of social networking sites like Orkut. The Cyber Cell of the City Police could bring down the number of cases reported on misuse of mobile phones considerably.

Similarly, the direct access that the Cyber Cell has with email service providers was key in cracking cases like the threat mails sent to the office of the President recently. That was highlighted as a major achievement for the Cyber Cell, as the suspect could be tracked down before the Central agencies could do that.

The Cyber Cell is now working towards establishing a similar link with the U.S. server of Yahoo! mail, one of the popular email service providers. The Cell now has tie-up with Indian server of the company, www.yahoo.co.in, but not with the main unit. This will delay tracking emails with the domain name yahoo.com.

The City Police are also ready to start the Cyber Police Station at the proposed SmartCity Kochi. The force is awaiting the identification of the 30-cent plot for construction the building.