Public and private sectors ought to build a partnership to work out strategies to improve cybersecurity, since increasing digitalisation in different walks of life post-pandemic has resulted in a drastic rise in ransomware attacks, bank frauds, data thefts and manipulations, online crimes against children, and social media-based crimes, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Friday.
He was speaking after inaugurating ‘c0c0n 2022’ - the 15th edition of the International Cybersecurity and Policing Conference. Along with individuals, government agencies too must be on the guard against cyber attacks, since their functioning too is becoming digitalised.
Women and children are increasingly becoming victims of cybercrimes such as pornography, stalking, cheating, and hacking. Most of them happen due to lack of awareness and adoption of poor cybersecurity measures. “Cybercrime figures released by Interpol and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) clearly point out that our children and youth are under constant threat in the cyberworld, and if digital devices and services are not used with caution, they may fall victim to cybercrimes. Both children and parents need to be educated on the safety steps to be taken before using social networking sites. This conference ought to address this problem in detail and suggest innovative strategies to deal with it,” Mr. Vijayan said.
