Youth Awareness, Policy-based Approach Key to Curb Cybercrimes, Say Experts at National Meet

THIRUVANANTHAPPURAM:
Increasing awareness on cybersecurity among new generation and formulation of a policy by bringing together industry, academia and policymakers are vital to tackle cybercrimes that pose a grim threat to the society, said stakeholders of the domain at a national conference held on June 13.

“Knowing the basics of cybersecurity is going to be the key in our fight against cybercrimes,” they opined at the first ‘National Cybersecurity Conference ’25,’ organized by the National Cyber Security Research Council (NCSRC), as part of its three statewide conferences, at Technopark here on June 13 (Friday).

Sparjan Kumar, Inspector General of Police, Kerala, inaugurated the national conference where Dr E Khalieraaj, Director, NCSRC, New Delhi, & Vice President – Cyber Security, IRITA; and Dr. Prince Joseph, State Coordinator – Kerala, NCSRC, New Delhi, also present.

Noting that knowledge in cybersecurity is a vital need of the hour, Mr Kumar said all students passing out the tenth standard in the state should be trained in the basics of cybersecurity as misuse of technology has become a serious threat to the society.

“Every citizen, especially students, should have the basic knowledge of securing their cyberspace. Everybody should be trained in cybersecurity in future and the society will benefit from that,” Kumar observed.

He suggested for an interaction among industry, academia and policymakers to come up with a policy in the domain which is also the aim of National Cybersecurity Mission.

Highlighting that technology is being misused these days, Mr Kumar said tracing out issues like siphoning off money and hoax bomb threats are difficult despite putting in huge efforts.

According to him, conferences like this should focus on imparting the basics of cybersecurity to new generation.

In his address, Dr Khalieraaj said the hackathon competitions on the sidelines of the conferences are aimed at identifying cyber talents from student community to control cyber crimes in India. “We plan to provide case studies to the hackathon winners and train them. Our vision is to work with cyber experts of legal and law enforcement agencies of all state governments to curb this menace,” he said.

Stressing that cybersecurity is a matter of human safety, Dr Khalieraaj pointed out that NCSRC is ready to support the cybersecurity activities in the state as part of its ‘Cyber-free Kerala’ campaign.

Sanal Kumar, Law Secretary, Government of Kerala, who spoke on ‘Responsible AI and Data Ethics in National Security,’ said cybersecurity is not just about technology but it is about trust, safety and responsibility.

Dr. Prince Joseph said NCSRC is committed to establishing research centres throughout the country to train and educate students to enable them to counter threats, promote and practice safety.

In his address, Sandip Kumar, Director, Kerala State IT Mission, Govt. of Kerala, highlighted that collaboration with external agencies is also important in cybersecurity domain where opportunities are immense.

The conference brought together cybersecurity experts, industry leaders and innovators in the domain. Students from various colleges and educational institutions in the state also attended the event.

NCSRC is organising the national-level conference covering in tier-1,2 and 3 cities in the country.

By organising these conferences, NCSRC aims to create a cyber hub in Kerala to support corporates, academic institutions, industries and legal and law enforcement agencies.

The ‘National Cyber Security Conference ’25’ is being conducted across the country along with hackathon competitions to identify talents from the student community for supporting legal and law enforcement authorities to curb cybercrimes in the state.

The hackathon competition for students as part of the conference in the capital city will be held at College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET) on June 14.

The second conference in Kerala has been scheduled for June 20 in UL Cyberpark, Kozhikode, and the hackathon competition will be held at University of Calicut, Thenhipalam, on June 21. The third conference will be held at CUSAT in Kochi on July 4 along with the semifinals of the hackathon.

The state-level winners of hackathon competitions will get Rs one lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. All the state-level winners will vie for the national-level hackathon.

Founded in 2009, the primary objectives of NCSRC are to ensure cyber security, privacy and data protection. It actively analyses and prevents cyber attacks aimed at government, industrial, economic, military and civilian infrastructure.