With a sudden shift from offline to online mode of working, Cybersecurity has gained major importance; it is no longer a choice, but a need. With India being among the top 10 countries facing cyberattacks, the need for Cybersecurity awareness has become even more critical.

To address the shortage of professionals in the Cybersecurity domain, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Ministry of Education along with CyberPeace Foundation (CPF) have launched a project to train students and educators in Cybersecurity in its affiliated colleges. “Data has become the new oil in the contemporary digitalised world, and the protection of data has become even more critical. To make the system robust and to avoid intruders filtering in, the youth must be educated on Cybersecurity,” says Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE while speaking to Education Times.

Since most financial activities are done digitally, people must know the threats for which AICTE aims to train youngsters, he adds. “The target is to provide training to 5 lakh students initially, which will eventually increase. The trained students will educate their parents, siblings, relatives, friends, etc., which will help in creating general awareness about cybersecurity,” says Sahasrabudhe.

Under the Project eSaksham, the aim is to focus on developing skills in the Cybersecurity domain, mainly for college students and teachers to build a community of industry-ready youth. The project will aim at creating an ecosystem where the internet strengthens instead of becoming a weakness.

“We intend to create a team of professionals working across different sectors specialising in AI, blockchain, quantum, internet governance, cyber diplomacy, telecommunications and network security, information security governance and risk management, cryptography, SCADA/ICS security, IoT security, cybercrime investigation, digital forensics and incident response (DFIR), SIEM to name a few,” says Capt. Vineet Kumar, founder and President of CyberPeace Foundation, which is the curriculum expert and implementation partner for the project. All these activities will help hone skills to meet the needs at the local, state, and national levels, and help build trust and resilience in cyberspace, says Kumar.

“The eSaksham project will teach the participants how to identify and mitigate the challenges that the internet has thrown to us apart from making our lives easier. Also, participating in the eSaksham training will be a way to contribute to society,” says Sahasrabudhe.

The training will be conducted at four levels, where students and educators will be trained through online sessions over a period of seven months. “We have created an elaborate module that will be used for level 1 to level 4 training. The contents for all four levels are designed with the help of a team of security experts from leading industries,” says Kumar.

The students would be provided with a Blockchain Certificate at the end of the course, informs Kumar.

Source: https://www.educationtimes.com/article/careers-science/82910953/why-cybersecurity-awareness-will-make-the-youth-industry-ready

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