Netra

The government will shortly launch ‘Netra’, the defence ministry’s internet spy system that will be capable of detecting words like ‘attack’, ‘bomb’, ‘blast’ or ‘kill’ in a matter of seconds from reams of tweets, status updates, emails, instant messaging transcripts, internet calls, blogs and forums.
The system will also be able to capture any dubious voice traffic passing through software such as Skype or Google Talk. “Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Cabinet Secretariat are testing ‘Netra’, which will be deployed by all national security agencies,” the note says. “The specifications of the ‘Netra’ system can be taken as frozen following tests by the IB and Cabinet Secretariat, and can be considered for providing multiple user access to security agencies,” it adds.
The ‘Netra’ internet surveillance system has been developed by Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), a lab under DRDO. To hasten deployment, the home ministry will approach DRDO to allocate additional manpower resources to Bangalore-based CAIR, which is also working with the government’s telecom technology arm, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) to formalise a strategy for tracking internet use.