Watch out for Cyber Attack!
Time to learn, spread awareness and be alert. The history of Cyber Attack dates back to the 1980s (Or even earlier) with the AIDS Trojan created by Joseph Popp. With time and development, the influence and impact of these attacks started affecting a larger section of the population. To be definite, anyone who owns a national identity proof(eg:adhaar), bank account, smartphone, email or a social media account can fall under this umbrella. Last year, Hindustan Times reported a 300% rise in cyber crimes in India. Government departments and officials, Finance sector, Insurance sector and even private businesses become a prey to such attacks. Malware, Phishing, Man-in-the-middle attack (MITM), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, SQL injection, Zero-day exploit, DNS Tunnelling, Business Email Compromise (BEC) are some of the types of cyber threats that is common these days. The motives behind each of these crimes remain varied- starting from money transfer, stealing data, disruption of service to spying. In cases like impersonization, it is not just a software/ virus but also other people who pose as trusted contacts to cheat the victim.
As mentioned above, the “Victims” of these attacks could be anyone. However, the after effect is much more devastating for vulnerable sections of the population. Creating mass awareness here becomes a critical and difficult task considering the digital literacy among the above said groups. However, educating smaller groups of people could be a way to start. It is also important here to clear myths and misconceptions regarding cyberspace so they understand the loopholes in the same.
Global Challenges and Social Justice Program by TribesforGood is one such platform to connect with these people. Previously, Young Changemakers from TribesforGood have educated people from disadvantaged sections and are hoping to reach a larger audience crowd from the communities. Some of the topics included setting secure passwords, avoiding phishing emails, fraudulent calls and SMS etc.
The team consisted of highschoolers from across the country namely, Zoran Singh, Keisha Virani, Anjolie Jain, Bhavikaa Goenka, Haardik Gupta, Kamakshi Seth, Bhavya Uniyal, Umang Chauhan, Yachna Monga, Siya Kulkarni, Shreya Wairagade, Bhuvnesh Nagpal, Avani Lankapalli and Shariq Hafizi. They got in touch with community leaders of YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) as well as students from organizations such as Pratyek(Delhi) and Thinksharp Foundation (Mumbai) in order to spread the knowledge. With the guidance of experienced professionals from the development sector like Ms.Meghna Joshi, Ms. Mandeep Kaur and Ms. Saloni Goel, the highschoolers delved into multiple aspects of Cyber Safety during the course of 6 weeks. The participants of the workshop were systematically instructed on how to secure their mails, phones, social media handles and even online shopping applications.
What is the impact of such engagements? Does it actually help if one educates selected people from communities? How can one make sure that the participants have actually understood the concept? These are some questions that arise when we talk about virtual awareness workshops. The impact of the workshop becomes visible once the awareness is useful in practical scenarios. The educated community leaders become advocates of cyber security in their community, social circle and family. Thus, the knowledge that we share with them reaches a larger crowd. And yes, virtual engagement is a difficult task, but not an impossible one. Through participant led activities, interactive videos and vernacular language the team ensured that the partakers were at ease. Question- answer sessions brought out individual experiences which helped everyone in understanding the exposure to cyber attacks.
In this time of crisis, we need to appreciate the effort taken by highschool students in solving various social issues. Let’s hope to see a long lasting impact through these initiatives.
