The Virtual World is not a Game, it is your life. Stay Safe says Rakshit Tandon Internationally acclaimed Cyber Security Expert and Advisor to various Governmental bodies, Police
Addresses FICCI Ladies Organisation on “SAFE SURFING” as well as “Cyber Threats to Children in Digital World”
Cyber Bullying by kids is on the rise. So also Kids hacking activities are on the rise: observed Rakshit Tandon
Passwording for vital online transaction needs to be relooked and must be stronger than current levels and should have more than 8 characters with a mix of Upper, Lower, Numerical and Special Characters.
No Textbook talks about Cyber Hygiene and Netiquette in India
FICCI Ladies Organisation, Hyderabad Chapter organized a talk on Cyber Security—“Smart and Safe Surfing” here in city at Hotel Taj Deccan today. Speaking on Safe Surfing and Cyber Threats to Children and Women in Digital World, the Internationally acclaimed Cyber Security Expert and Advisor various Governmental bodies, Rakshit Tandon said Cyber Crimes in this country are on the rise. As more and more are using internet mobiles, mobile internet device so also the Cyber Crimes on the rise.
Mr. Rakshit Tandon is in city yesterday, today and tomorrow to address schools on safe surfing. Between yesterday and today he spoke at eight schools such as Meridian, Chirec, Bhavans and others. He is on a mission all over India to promote Safe Surfing Campaign and giving lectures on Cyber Threats to Children in Digital World.
With more usage of internet and other access devices, even kids as young as fourth class, barely nine years are using internet. Though minimum entry age on Facebook is at least 13years, many kids fake and become Facebook members. Quite a large number of students are using Internet in India. So the number of FIRs registered on all over India basis for Cyber Crimes have gone up from 439 in the year 2009 has gone up to 2876 in the year 2010. Year after year increasing number of school going kids are being arrested for Cyber Crimes, he informed
The Cyber Crime graph in Delhi alone has gone up by 700 per cent among youth of 18 to 25 years. Nearly 30 million people in India fell victim to Cyber Crimes in 2010. Online money rackets, fake lottery scams, online impersonation, hacking, cyber defamation, cyber stalking, bullying have become big pain for the country, he observed. Even many online bankers are duped with identical websites. The reason for all these problems is that we are not educated ourselves on these issues, he said
The key dark areas on online are Cyber Defamation, Cyber Stalking, Cyber Bullying, he said. WhatsApp is being used widely in this country. Nearly 300 million users are using WhatsApp application across the globe. In India alone 20 million users are using this application. But it is not safe, he said. The status updated and posted profiles on the same are watched by Cyber Stalkers. They follow up online and commit crimes, Tandon informed.
More than 5 in every 10 Indian children is bullied online says a survey published recently he informed. India ranked 3rd in Cyber Bullying, he said. Even the download practices of children are not safe as they end up downloading malware along with the content becoming soft target for stealing of sensitive data on the system.
The way the passwords kept in the country needs to be relooked. Mostly we keep passwords names of our family members. The information of those family members can be found easily through social media sites. You need to be smart in keeping your passwords. The passwords should be more than 8 characters and must have at least one capital character, one lower, one number and one special character, he suggested.
He also suggested some useful softwares to protect children from getting exposed to unwanted material online. Don’t ever give unlimited access to your children. Don’t give them mobile internet access devices. Encourage them to use desktops with big Monitors. Then only we can ensure safety of our kids online, he said.
It is very sad to note that no textbook in our country talks about Cyber Hygiene and Netiquette. The way we teach morals and values to our children they must also be taught Cyber Hygiene, he said.
Even women need to be very careful while posting a photograph online, which should be less than 72 dpi. So that such photos are not misused and such photos are difficult to morph.
Even Corporates in India do not have effective security policy to protect their Digital Content, he observed.
Phishing is the most dangerous thing happening on the net. Act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as trust worthy entity in an electronic communication is on the rise. Further he advised to disable pop-ups which are a threat for the online safety.
Many Credit Card or Debit Card holders in India still use original PIN number allocated. They don’t change, despite of being advised by their bankers. Which again is an unsafe practice, he said.
Those who use Wi-Fi routers facilities keep their default setups of username as “admin” and password as “password”. This again is a wrong practice. One terrorist using this technique accessed internet to claim responsibility for a terrorist act. This has happened without the knowledge of the owner, who ended up suffering for no fault of him.
Chats on WhatsApp are not private and other users too can see the same. So don’t exchange vital and important information such as PIN number etc. Use face to face communication for exchange of such information, he said.
Rakshit has been Advisor to many Cyber Crime Units, Police Organisations and has been training Law Enforcing Agencies across India and abroad. He has also conducted workshop for Airforce Warriors at Airforce Station in Agra.
He was Invited by EUROPEAN COMMISSION as an Non European Expert and a Chief Panelist for the ‘Safer Internet Program of European Union’ to Germany and Luxembourg in October 2010. He was also one of the keynote speaker to a conference by Internet society Nepal chapter conducted in Nepal in January 2012
He is working as a Chief Resource Advisor and Speaker for IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India), presently executing the “SAFE SURFING CAMPAIGN” conducting workshops and seminars on ’Cyber Threats to Children in Digital World’ for students, teachers and parents to sensitize them about the types of Cyber Crimes, Preventive Measures to be taken while surfing the Internet, Information Technology Act and the Remedial Measures that can be taken if one is victimised by the cyber criminals.
Till date he has successfully completed more than 5000 workshops for more than 5.0 lac students, parents and teachers for various schools and colleges in 51 cities and 13 states nationwide. He also addresses the problems of the students who seek further guidance on the same issues through ‘www.rakshittandon.com‘ his official site and the facebook comunity page titled ‘Safe Surfing Rakshit Tandon’.
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