5 lakh Indian students to be trained in cybersecurity skills with this programme

CyberPeace Foundation, a think tank and grassroots NGO of cyber security and policy experts, launched a joint initiative training programme on cyber peace and cybersecurity with the Ministry of Education and AICTE in collaboration with industry, academia, government and civil societies.

The aim of the programme is to address the issues that have trailed in the wake of technological advancement such as cybercrimes, harassment, abuse and radicalization and to build a secure ecosystem of cybersecurity communities where the internet will become a strength instead of a liability or weakness for the youth of the country.

Other objectives include researching the problems faced online and developing innovative solutions to these problems in addition to enabling the youth to expand their knowledge and skills on the internet.

 

More about the cybersecurity training programme

As a part of the programme, 50 CyberPeace Clubs will engage 5 lakhs students and educators in CyberPeace and cybersecurity activities such as Hackathons, Global CyberPeace Challenge and eRaksha competitions.

Student development initiatives such as Volunteer Induction workshops and awareness workshops involving participants in techno-social research, CyberPeace talks in collaboration with industry, academia and civil societies, online communities for engaging interactions and the support of the youth and the establishment of a network of 25,000 CyberPeace Corps volunteers will all constitute essential segments of the programme.

Some of the topics that will be covered are — digital citizenship, digital rights and responsibilities, cyber ethics and digital etiquette, cyber health and wellness, misinformation, cyber laws and reporting and new technologies such as block chain, IoT Security and AI.

Demand for cybersecurity skills

As per a statistic by Cybersecurity Ventures, there would be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions globally by 2021.

With all of these initiatives and activities, the programme strives to get more students in the cybersecurity field along with empower the participants to be aware of their digital rights and responsibilities, choose consciously by making safe, smart, informed choices, become hygiene conscious by following healthy online practices, recognize and manage online risk and to become responsible netizens following the rules and regulations.

Launching the programme, Honorable Chairman, AICTE, Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, said, “I hereby announce the launch of training program in Cyber Security through CyberPeace Foundation which is going to train more than 5 lakhs students and this is a very important area where more than 2 Crore jobs exists.”

Commenting on the programme, Vineet Kumar, Founder and President, CyberPeace Foundation, said, “Cyberattacks have gone up in India and globally during pandemic. On the National Youth Day, we are delighted to partner with the Ministry of Education & AICTE to up-skill half a million students across India in crucial cybersecurity skills.”

“With rising digital adoption, these skills will form the bedrock to create more cyber aware individuals, a pool of cybersecurity experts and a secure and resilient society,” he added.

Talking about the same, Dr. Buddha Chandrasekhar, Chief Coordinating Officer, AICTE, Ministry of Education, said, “The increasing frequency of hacker attacks targeting organizational networks has created a need for cybersecurity experts and professionals.”

“With this joint initiative we have launched with CyberPeace Foundation, we want to empower more than 5 lakh students and faculty members and train them on how to defend themselves in addition to creating volunteers on the Cybersecurity side and forming CyberPeace Clubs,” he said.

 

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/5-lakh-indian-students-to-get-cybersecurity-skills-1760229-2021-01-18