Hyderabad: SCSC–Society for Cyberabad Security Council and Cyberabad Police in support with END NOW Foundation embarked on yet another very promising and need of the hour initiative called “DiLseY short form of Digital Literacy to Secure Youth.
This ambitious initiative is launched here in the city today at Cyberabad Police Commissionerate office by Mr. VC Sajjanar, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad in the presence of Mr Vijay Kumar, DCP Traffic-Cyberabad; Mr Krishna Yedula, General Secretary of SCSC; Bharani Kumar Aroll President of HYSEA(Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association); Mr. Anil Rachamalla, Founder of END NOW Foundation; Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Jt Secretary of Cyber Security Forum of SCSC, Mr. Venkat Tankasala of SCSC, Mr. K. Srinivas, Inspector Cyber Crimes, Cyberabad and 100 DiLSeY volunteers and others.
The objective behind this program according to Mr. VC Sajjanar is to build an Army of Cyber Warriors from among the society in a crusade against Cyber Crimes. World over the traditional crimes are coming down. On the other side, Cyber Crime and Economic Offences are on the rise. Cyber Crimes have gone up by 250 per cent in the recent past. Ever since the outbreak of the covid, the crimes have doubled.
The best way to counter and arrest these crimes is to educate masses, create awareness, he said. An initiative like this is being introduced in the country for the first time. It is the youth for the youth movement for a secured digital world, he added.
We originally planned to launch this initiative last year which was put up because of the pandemic. Now that the more and more people are on a digital model, this is the need of the hour. We have been coming out with a lot of initiatives. Through the Traffic Volunteer program 2000 people volunteered to offer their service. Similarly, Margadarshak has a base of 800 volunteers; Sanghamithra 300 volunteers; Balamithra trainer 6000 teachers. The ultimate goal is to build an army of volunteers and through them build a mass movement. These trained volunteers, in turn, will go back to the society and train youth, students and others at schools and colleges, he said.
Mr. Sajjanar also urged people to share with police whenever they sport or come to new crimes. So that Cyberabad Police will work on them on a proactive approach basis instead of acting after they happen. This will help us to prevent new crimes and also to alert people not to fall prey to such things in future.
Mr. Vijay Kumar, DCP said the people have gone so deep into internet space, they got entangled and are unable to come out of it. Literates to illiterates everybody is victims of cybercrimes. There is a dire need to reach out not only to the urban populace but also the rural people to educate them about the possible crimes they might become victims to. The change must come in the society, he said
The mission of DiLSeY, Krishna Yedula added, is “Awareness on Digital Safety” with the four major pillars of Awareness being Cyber Bullying, Digital Addiction, Online Safety, Online Etiquette. What we look for in volunteers is three Ps—Passion, Perseverance and Patience. It is the war of all of us. We have to fight it out collectively said, Krishna
Mr. Bharani Aroll said by the year 2022, nearly 850 million smartphones will be used. 65 percent of our population is below 35 years old. We are a young nation. It is both a strength and a weakness for us. It will be a strength if we can create good opportunities and channelize their energies and skills. If not, it will lead to civil unrest. DiLSeY is the need of the hour program. We must create it as a mass movement, he gave a clarion call.
This is noble work, what you have volunteered for is the most sought after service you can give back to the society, Bharani told the volunteers assembled. You are torchbearers, he added.
The response to the call is overwhelming. More than 100 volunteers registered for the first batch of 8-hour training which will begin on 6th February in the city. It will have two such sessions which will be held on the weekends. He said. The initial training will be a physical one, then volunteers will have an online session followed by an offline session. Mostly we are looking at people from the IT world so that they will have an IT background and grasp cyber security easily. Those with strong desire but without IT background can also get registered as volunteers. Followed by the training program they will be presented a certificate. After that, they are expected to go back to society, communities, schools and colleges. Those who complete 30-hour sessions in the first 3 months will be given an appreciation certificate.
Anil Rachamalla of END NOW Foundation said the objective of the program is to channelize the energy of students towards spreading awareness about Digital Safety and hence, transforming them into powerful and responsible agents of change in the society. The volunteers will be trained on Cyberbullying, Fake News, Effective Social Media Usage, Basic Cyber Laws, Social Engineering Crimes. They will also get support from Law and Enforcement Agencies such as She Teams, Cyber Crime Police etc.
What we three organisations want to achieve through this initiative, Anil added, is to create awareness about Digital Safety; Reducing victims of Cyber Crimes and Support from Law and Enforcement agencies.
Abhishek, In-charge of Cyber Security Forum of SCSC said humans are the weakest link in all the cyber crimes. Since youth has been spending long hours on the net, chances of falling prey to such crimes is more he said. Youth are not tech-savvy. But they increasingly depend on technology and so also others. So we need to build the culture of online security among the people, he said.
A video especially made on this, a poster and a volunteer handbook were unveiled.
Those who are interested in becoming a volunteer of DiLSey may write to SCSC on email ID [email protected] or phone: 9177283831
