SANCHAR SAATHI PORTAL (Syllabus: GS Paper 3– CYBER SECURITY)

Context:The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, has issued a cautionary advisory to citizens regarding fraudulent calls impersonating DoT officials. Moreover  are encouraged to utilize the Sanchar Saathi portal.

Sanchar Saathi portal:

• Launched In: 2023.
• Nodal Ministry: Sanchar Saathi portal is a citizen centric initiative of Department of Telecommunications.
• Developed By: Designed, Developed and Hosted by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).
• Objective: To empower mobile subscribers, strengthen their security and increase awareness about citizen centric initiatives of the Government.
• Features:

oSanchar Saathi empowers citizens by allowing them to know the mobile connections issued in their name

oGet disconnected the connections either not taken by them or not required by them

oBlock and trace stolen/lost mobile phones and check genuineness of devices while buying a new/old mobile phone.

oSanchar Saathi facilitates citizens for reporting suspected fraud communication.

• Various modules:

oChakshu facilitates citizens to report the suspected or unsolicited communications received through call, SMS or WhatsApp which are intended for cyber-crime, financial frauds, impersonation.

oCentralized Equipment Identity Register (CEIR).

oTelecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP)

oASTR (Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification)