Islamabad: The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing is unable to track any social media user’s Internet Protocol (IP) address.
The FIA Cyber Crime Wing has the ability to locate the IP address was the primary question in information request made through this scribe.
The FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing is unable to monitor the IP address, was the response of the Pakistan’s leading cybercrime investigating body.
It is pertinent to mentioned here that the agency in response to a query about the progress made in a complaint filed by this scribe stated that “the complainant was called to submit evidence, but she didn’t respond, therefore the complaint is closed.”
What is IP address:
IP Address is a unique string of characters that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.
Tracking down location
If the agency has the ability to trace the IP address of any cybercrime accused, FIA can use geolocation technology to identify his/her region, city, and state. They only need to do a little more digging on social media to identify their home. So, it is a primary requirement to trace any cybercrime accused who has not mentioned his/her contact details in his social media account.
It is understood that a criminal will not mention his address and contact details in a social media account that he is using for cybercrimes?
Progress of FIA Cyber Crime Wing.
According to a report issued by the FIA, around 394222 complaints have been registered since the Cyber Crime Wing was founded.
In response to the complaints, the agency has filed 3356 First Information Reports (FIRs). According to documents, only 19919 are active cases with the agency right now.
For the Financial Year 2020–21, Rs 130 million was allotted for Cyber Crime Wing of the FIA. The agency now has 15 reporting centers located in various Pakistani cities.
The FIA CCW now employs 346 contract employees in addition to 82 permanent staff members, including officers.
Perks and Privileges:
All of the officers and staff of the FIA CCW receive salaries in accordance with the Government of Pakistan’s Basic Pay Scales for their various scales, but they additionally receive the following four supplementary allowances:
| Sr. No | Allowance | Rate |
| 01 | Anti-organized crime allowance | 50% of running basic pay |
| 02 | Investigation Allowance | 60% of running basic pay |
| 03 | Utility Allowance | 25% of running basic pay |
| 04 | FIA allowance | 20% of running basic pay |
Progress on Information Request:
The Pakistan Information Commission, in response to the appeal submitted by this scribe, ordered FIA to provide the copies of FIRs to this scribe and also upload the same to the website. It is important to note that the public body was also asked to provide the copies of the FIRs registered by the FIA CCW. The public body, however, has neither given copies of the FIRs nor uploaded them on its website despite the passing of the allotted time.
Pakistan Information Commission has fixed the case for hearing on September 22, 2022.