Jay Bavisi speaks at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, calling on India’s IT industry to lead the national AI workforce transformation

The Summit marked a pivotal global moment in AI’s evolution, drawing more than 300,000 attendees within its first three days and bringing together some of the most influential voices shaping the global AI economy, including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Sundar Pichai of Google, Bill Gates, Sam Altman, and other technology leaders driving frontier innovation. It arrived at a moment of unprecedented reckoning for the global technology services industry, reflecting a broader shift from experimentation to measurable implementation.

Held amid heightened unprecedented reckoning for the global technology services industry. In the days leading up to the event, AI-driven disruption fears triggered a sharp selloff across major IT services firms. India’s Nifty IT index plunged nearly 19 percent over eight trading sessions, wiping out approximately Rs. 4.8 to Rs. 5 lakh crore in combined market capitalisation, marking one of the steepest sectoral corrections in recent years. Top Indian IT companies suffered sharp double-digit declines, with one industry giant briefly falling below the Rs. 10 lakh crore market cap threshold for the first time since December 2020, while several others hit fresh 52-week lows. The carnage was not limited to India: overseas-listed shares of leading firms plunged nearly 10 percent in a single New York trading session, as global investors reassessed the long-term viability of the labour-intensive outsourcing model that has powered the sector for decades.

The stakes could not be higher. India’s IT-BPM  industry remains one of the country’s most significant economic pillars , generating approximately $283 billion in revenue in FY2025, contributing over 7 percent to national GDP, and directly employing nearly 5.8 million professionals. As AI reshapes enterprise operating models worldwide, the need to reskill and realign this workforce has become a strategic priority. Leading IT companies recorded significant declines, with several stocks hitting multi-month or 52-week lows as investors reassessed the long-term implications of AI on traditional outsourcing and services models. The correction was not limited to India, as IT services companies listed overseas also experienced notable declines, reflecting broader global uncertainty around the future of labour-intensive service delivery in the AI era.

Yet within this disruption lies what may be the most consequential workforce opportunity of the decade. The same AI technologies dismantling traditional service delivery models are simultaneously creating massive new demand for professionals who can deploy, secure, and govern AI systems at enterprise scale. The question confronting India’s $283 billion IT sector is not whether AI will transform its business but whether the nation can retool its 5.8 million-strong technology workforce fast enough to lead that transformation rather than be consumed by it. This is precisely the challenge that Jay Bavisi, Founder and CEO of EC-Council, addressed head-on at the Summit.

Bavisi, creator of the world-renowned Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) credential and a global leader in applied cybersecurity education – shifted the focus from experimentation to execution maturity, emphasizing that AI’s future will be determined not by how fast it advances, but by how responsibly it is built, governed, and secured.

Addressing the panel “Responsible AI at Scale: Governance, Integrity & Cyber Readiness,” Bavisi emphasized that as AI becomes embedded across financial systems, healthcare infrastructure, manufacturing ecosystems, digital governance platforms, and national security frameworks, disciplined workforce capability becomes the decisive factor in responsible scale.

In his broader remarks on the Summit and India’s AI trajectory, Bavisi emphasized both the scale of the event and the magnitude of the opportunity.

“This is an amazing summit that has been organized in India, the AI Impact Summit. I have not seen a summit of this size. The number of people, the number of thinkers who are here from all across the world – it is a very successful event and a dialogue that is extremely important in a world that is being transformed by AI,” he said.

Bavisi emphasized that artificial intelligence carries transformative potential, but only if managed with structural discipline. “AI has the potential to cause mayhem if it is not implemented properly,” he stated. “When AI becomes embedded into systems, responsibility becomes critical.”

He framed India’s opportunity not merely as participation in AI growth, but as leadership through capability.

“India has a phenomenal opportunity to be a supplier of talent to the world. Indian professionals are known globally for their technical ability. In the world of AI right now, it is time to wake up and serve professionals to the world who are able to adopt, govern, and defend,” Bavisi said.

“The fact that India is taking leadership in AI is a phenomenal step in the right direction,” he added. “India is one of the very few countries with professionals who are proficient in language models, and technology at scale. This is a moment for India.”

Under Bavisi’s leadership, EC-Council has expanded its global AI footprint through structured, role-based capability development aligned to real-world enterprise needs. The Enterprise AI Credential Suite and the modernization of Certified CISO v4 represent the largest expansion in the organization’s 25-year history, built for one clear reality: AI is scaling faster than the workforce trained to run, secure, and govern it.

Structured around EC-Council’s proprietary Adopt. Defend. Govern. (ADG) framework for AI, the suite includes Artificial Intelligence Essentials (AI|E), Certified AI Program Manager (C|AIPM), Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (C|OASP), and Certified Responsible AI Governance & Ethics Professional (C|RAGE). Together with Certified CISO v4, these credentials form a unified workforce architecture designed to support AI deployment, governance oversight, security resilience, and executive leadership at enterprise scale.

The strength of that architecture was reflected in the engagement following Bavisi’s session. The discussion room reached capacity, with standing-room-only attendance and sustained interaction well beyond the scheduled time. Many attendees identified themselves as CEHs, reinforcing the credential’s long-standing global recognition even within a summit dominated by frontier AI technologies.

Bavisi emphasized that leadership in artificial intelligence will not be defined solely by technological speed, but by execution maturity.

“We often measure progress in numbers,” Bavisi said. “But the larger impact lies in shaping professionals who go on to defend companies, governments, and communities. Workforce development is not transactional. It is generational.”

About EC-Council

EC-Council is the creator of the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) program and a leader in cybersecurity education. Founded in 2001, EC-Council’s mission is to provide high-quality training and certifications for cybersecurity professionals to keep organizations safe from cyber threats. EC-Council offers over 200 certifications and degrees in various cybersecurity domains, including forensics, security analysis, threat intelligence, and information security.  

An ISO/IEC 17024 accredited organization, EC-Council has certified over 350,000 professionals worldwide, with clients ranging from government agencies to Fortune 100 companies. EC-Council is the gold standard in cybersecurity certification, trusted by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and leading global corporations.   

With crypto adoption accelerating across India, police and cybercrime units are increasingly facing complex cases involving digital assets. Recognizing this urgent need, CoinSwitch has developed the handbook to simplify VDA concepts and provide practical guidance for on-ground investigations. The handbook will be distributed across key police stations and cybersecurity units nationwide, ensuring frontline officials have direct access to the tools and insights they need.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Ashish Singhal, Co-founder & CEO of CoinSwitch, said, "India has emerged as a global leader in grassroots-level crypto adoption, ranking first in the Global Crypto Adoption Index for the third consecutive year in 2025. With this growth comes a responsibility for service providers to safeguard consumer interests and foster a safer, more inclusive crypto ecosystem. This handbook is our contribution to that mission."

Mr. Sukant Dukhande, Senior Director, Legal at CoinSwitch, added, "Crypto is a rapidly evolving global asset class, bringing inherent complexity. This handbook is designed to assist police officials, policymakers, and regulatory bodies by providing practical insights, case studies, and best practices to enhance coordination and support informed, effective decision-making."

This launch builds on CoinSwitch’s ongoing efforts to support law enforcement and regulatory engagement in India. The company has conducted over 35 workshops and training programs on blockchain tracing and crypto fraud investigations. It has also established advisory partnerships to help shape balanced and effective crypto regulation. Looking ahead, CoinSwitch plans to expand these initiatives. The goal is to create a sustained ecosystem of knowledge.

To facilitate collaboration, law enforcement agencies can submit official requests via nodaldesk@coinswitch.co. Virtual Digital Assets Decoded complements these efforts, offering actionable insights to support investigations, improve coordination, and enhance decision-making in India’s fast-growing crypto ecosystem.

Link to full report: coinswitch.co/switch/crypto/vda-handbook-for-police-law-enforcement-agencies

RBI’s latest annual report shows bank frauds jumped nearly threefold to ₹36,014 crore in FY25. Developed to combat evolving and complex frauds in modern payment ecosystems, Trident AI combines machine learning algorithms, behavioral analytics, and real-time decision-making capabilities to deliver unprecedented protection for financial institutions and customers. The solution adopts a three-tier approach encompassing real-time fraud detection, intelligent investigation, and automated response mechanism.

• Merchant Fraud Prevention: Trident AI eliminates illegitimate merchant onboarding through automated website verification and MCC analysis, reducing manual processing time while ensuring compliance. The platform's continuous monitoring capabilities detect real-time risk changes, while its proprietary Merchant Trust Score leverages 70+ parameters to deliver precise reliability assessments for informed decision-making.

• Transaction Fraud Detection: Trident AI delivers sub-100-millisecond transaction evaluation with dynamic risk scoring, enabling real-time blocking of high-risk activities while maintaining seamless processing for legitimate transactions. Advanced fraud ring detection capabilities reduce merchant chargebacks and protect customers, especially in cross-border payment scenarios.

• Customer Fraud Intelligence: Platform’s sophisticated Mule Account Identification and Anomaly Detection modules combat systematic fraud attacks through comprehensive ecosystem analysis. The system detects suspicious user behavior patterns, fraudulent merchant activities, and unusual BIN/bank traffic, effectively mitigating BIN attacks, bot attacks, and identifying coordinated fraud schemes across the payment network.

“With Trident AI platform, we are not just preventing fraud, we are building an adaptive intelligence layer for the payments ecosystem,” said Shailesh Paul, CEO, Wibmo. “Our vision is to empower banks and financial institutions with tools that don’t just react to threats, but anticipate and counter them, enabling digital commerce to thrive with confidence and trust.”

“With the launch of AI-embedded Trident, Wibmo is taking a significant step towards fortifying India’s digital commerce ecosystem, making it safer and more resilient every day”, said Manas Mishra, Chief Product Officer, PayU and Wibmo. “Trident AI has already started demonstrating exceptional results in real-world deployments. A collaboration with PayU achieved 40% enhanced fraud detection precision compared to existing systems. Moreover, during a 10-day evaluation period, the platform successfully identified 2,250 high-risk fraud transactions from over 1.23 million processed transactions.”

Trusted by over 100 banks and fintechs worldwide and evaluating close to 4 billion transactions annually, Wibmo’s flagship Trident FRM solution has set gold standard for next-generation fraud risk management. With the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) layer, the platform has transformed into a robust platform against fraud threats.

About PayU

PayU, India's leading diversified fintech platform with Prosus as an investor, operates businesses that are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and offers advanced solutions to meet the digital financial services needs of customers (merchants, banks, and consumers). PayU provides payment gateway solutions to online businesses through its cutting-edge and award-winning technology and has empowered 4.5 lakhs+ businesses, including India's leading enterprises, e-commerce giants and SMBs. It enables businesses to collect digital payments across 100+ online payment methods such as Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Net Banking, EMIs, pay-later, QR, UPI, Wallets, and more. It's a preferred partner in the affordability ecosystem, offering the maximum coverage of issuers and easy-to-implement integrations across card-based EMIs, pay-later options and new-age cardless EMIs. PayU offers e-commerce brands best-in-industry success rates while ensuring a seamless checkout experience.

Wibmo, a PayU company, is a global full-stack PayTech company and an industry leader in payment security and digital payments in emerging markets. Wibmo provides market leading authentication and risk TSP services to leading banks in India and 30+ countries.

Thiruvananthapuram Gets Smarter with TSCCC Boosting Traffic and Safety

As part of the Smart City initiative, Thiruvananthapuram is witnessing a tech-driven transformation in urban traffic management through the Traffic Safety and City Command Centre (TSCCC). Conceived as an integrated command hub, the TSCCC functions as the nerve centre for regulating traffic, ensuring public safety, and enhancing city-wide surveillance.

After successful installation, extensive field testing and integration, the command centre was formally inaugurated on 6th February 2024 in the presence of Honorable Chief Minister Sri Pinarayi Vijayan, Honorable Minister Sri M.B. Rajesh, Honorable Mayor Smt. Arya Rajendran, Sri Nagaraju Chakilam IPS (IGP & Commissioner of Police), Sri Nidhinraj IPS (Deputy Commissioner of Police), Sri Rahul Krishna Sharma IAS, CEO and other notable dignitaries. The project was fully commissioned and operational sustainability secured via a 5-year Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) for continuous upkeep and system monitoring.

The utility of the TSCCC extends far beyond traffic management, emerging as a critical asset in law-enforcement and crime prevention. Access to high-quality surveillance footage has significantly enhanced evidence gathering, accelerated probe timelines, and in many cases, proved instrumental in cracking complex cases. In just a short span, police officials have tapped into the system 923 times, procuring video footages to aid major investigations spanning homicides, chain-snatching, robberies, two-wheeler thefts, child abuse cases, accidents, hit-and-run incidents, and missing person reports.

Several advanced technologies work in tandem to make TSCCC a powerful urban management tool in the city. At the heart of the system is the Traffic Control System, deployed across 57 major junctions.

Complementing this is the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), in operation at 32 high-traffic intersections. The backbone of ITMS includes Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras for vehicle tracking and Red-Light Violation Detection (RLVD) cameras for enforcing signal discipline. Together, these tools support round-the-clock monitoring and automated violation capture, boosting deterrence against traffic offences.

A robust network of city-wide CCTV surveillance further strengthens visibility and security. With fixed bullet cameras and high-zoom pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras positioned at 93 strategic points, the system uses AI-driven analytics to detect no-parking violations, wrong-way driving, unattended objects, overcrowding, and even conduct appearance-based searches. This 360-degree monitoring capability has vastly improved situational awareness for both traffic managers and law enforcement agencies.

The TSCCC project is a highly successful initiative and has been seamlessly integrated for the command control centre providing camera feeds 24*7 for the safety and security of the city of Thiruvanthapuram.

EC-Council Commits $100 Million to Drive the Future of Cybersecurity Innovation 

The investment coupled with EC-Council’s platform support, will boost the next generation of cybersecurity innovation which will redefine the cybersecurity paradigm worldwide. Strategic deployment of the investment will prioritize companies with high growth potential, and which demonstrate exceptional technical innovation, problem-solving capabilities, and tangible impact in strengthening Cybersecurity Defense.

Companies led by EC-Council certified cybersecurity professionals or those that employ EC-Council certified cybersecurity professionals in key technical and leadership roles will be given priority, aligning with EC-Council’s commitment to expertise-driven cybersecurity innovation.

“Our industry stands at a pivotal moment, requiring visionary leadership to counteract an ever-evolving cyber threat landscape,” said Jay Bavisi, Group President, EC-Council. “This initiative is designed to provide not just financial backing but also mentorship, strategic guidance, and global exposure to help these companies create effective security solutions. As a globally trusted cybersecurity brand, we are investing in the future by equipping those who are committed to driving impactful change.”

This initiative builds on EC-Council’s two-decade legacy of shaping the global cybersecurity workforce through education, training, and innovation. Its industry-relevant programs; such as Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Network Defender (CND), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO), and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) have become gold standards in the field. Supporting this commitment to continuous learning is EC-Council Learning, the World's Largest Online Cybersecurity Course Library, which offers professionals and institutions access to thousands of curated resources that evolve with the threat landscape.

Further product innovations include CEH powered with AI capabilities, CPENT AI an advanced offensive security program featuring real-time AI-driven test environments and The Hackerverse CTF, EC-Council’s immersive cyber range platform that simulates real-world attack scenarios to prepare professionals for live threats.

The goal of EC-Council’s $100 million investment is to ensure that companies in the cybersecurity space with strong technical capabilities and market potential can access capital and resources to accelerate their growth. Companies from any region are encouraged to apply, as EC-Council is committed to creating a global ecosystem of cybersecurity innovation.

With cyberattacks becoming increasingly sophisticated, businesses, governments, and individuals face growing risks. EC-Council’s investment initiative is designed to ensure the companies with best-in-class products, service offerings and capabilities have the resources and platform to reach the users and enterprises who could benefit the most from their solutions.

Bavisi further highlighted the importance of empowering emerging companies, stating: “Innovation is not limited to large global corporations or major tech hubs. With the power of today’s technology, infrastructure and AI, some of the most disruptive cybersecurity solutions are emerging in recent times by highly specialized companies, with the potential to transform the sector and lead to new business models. Our goal is to ensure these companies have the support they need to thrive, regardless of their size or location.”

For more information on how to apply, visit EC-Council’s official website: www.eccouncil.org/supporting-cybersecurity-initiatives

About EC-Council

EC-Council is the creator of the world-renowned Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) program and a leader in cybersecurity education. Founded in 2001, EC-Council’s mission is to provide high-quality training and certifications for cybersecurity professionals to keep organizations safe from cyber threats. EC-Council offers over 200 certifications and degrees in various cybersecurity domains, including forensics, security analysis, threat intelligence, and information security.

An ISO/IEC 17024 accredited organization, EC-Council has certified over 350,000 professionals worldwide, with clients ranging from government agencies to Fortune 100 companies. EC-Council is the gold standard in cybersecurity certification, trusted by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and leading global corporations. 

For more information, visit: www.eccouncil.org.

Mr. Sudhir Sahu, Founder & CEO, Data Safeguard

ID-PRIVACY is a comprehensive privacy suite designed in India, for India, that goes beyond compliance to enable organizations to embed privacy by design and scale trust. The platform leverages the company’s proprietary adaptive CCE® AI Engine to automate compliance and anticipate regulatory changes—giving organizations a future-proof edge.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Sudhir Sahu, Founder & CEO, Data Safeguard said, “With the DPDPA becoming a cornerstone of India’s digital trust economy, we aim to be the No. 1 privacy platform in India within the first year of DPDPA rule formalization. ID-PRIVACY is more than a product. It’s a privacy movement, built by India, for India, to protect the digital rights of 1.4 billion people.”

ID-PRIVACY offers a comprehensive, AI-native, zero-code platform built from the ground up to address the complexities of today’s privacy landscape. Unlike retrofitted global solutions, it is purposefully designed to align with India’s DPDPA, as well as international regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and more.

Mr. Lee Nocon, Co-Founder & CTO, Data Safeguard added, “Privacy tech must evolve faster than cyber threats and regulatory change. ID-PRIVACY is powered by our adaptive AI, which not only automates compliance but anticipates future requirements—ensuring our customers stay ahead with zero disruption.”

Built for Bharat. Built to Scale. ID-PRIVACY features:

• Localized consent and purpose management in line with DPDPA Sections 5, 7, and 8

• Real-time breach response automation for timely data principal notifications

• Automated DPIAs, audit logs, and impact assessments

• Full data localization compliance with seamless hybrid-cloud integration

• Rapid deployment in 2 weeks with ROI in 4 weeks

Unmatched Platform, Unparalleled Reach.

ID-PRIVACY is the first unified privacy suite that seamlessly integrates:

• Consent, Preference and Cookie Lifecycle Management

• Data Discovery, Mapping, Classification and Redaction

• Data Principal Rights Automation (DPAR)

• Risk Monitoring & Breach Notification

• Third-Party & Cross-Border Data Governance

• AI-powered Privacy Copilot for CXOs & DPOs

More than a compliance tool, ID-PRIVACY acts as a catalyst for ethical governance, digital citizenship, and responsible innovation in the world’s largest democracy. By equipping enterprises with the tools to navigate evolving privacy regulations with precision and integrity, ID-PRIVACY can help build a resilient, trustworthy foundation for sustainable digital transformation.

About Data Safeguard India Pvt. Ltd.

Data Safeguard India Pvt. Ltd. is India’s leading Privacy-Tech company, driving the country’s digital privacy transformation through its AI-first platform, ID-PRIVACY. With a dedicated R&D centre in Bhubaneswar and operational presence across Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune, the company is deeply embedded in India’s privacy ecosystem. Recognized as a Top 50 Disruptor by CNBC in 2024 & 2025, winner of the Best DPDPA Compliance Platform by the India Tech Awards, and Best Universal Consent Management Platform by Concur Consent Manager, Data Safeguard is committed to empowering ethical AI, data dignity, and future-ready governance. 

Odyssey Technologies Launches First-of-its-kind Global Solutions for Secure Digital Communication

Sometime in the last couple of years, a new term entered the popular imagination and took hold there. The term is called ‘Digital Arrest’. Though not a legitimate legal term this seems to have taken firm roots in the public consciousness.

While digital arrest scams have caused significant damage, there are other kinds of digital frauds that have been on the rise as well. We have identity thefts, digital blackmail and extortion, ransomware attacks and all of them have been on the rise. In spite of security advisories and software vendors issuing security patches to their software at an increased pace these attacks are not abating. The problem is also global in nature and even the U.S citizens are given only cautions and advisories for their Toll Text and other Scams but no solution.

In his comments, Mr. B. Robert Raja, Chairman and Managing Director, Odyssey Technologies said, “It only shows that whatever is the root cause of these problems is, it is not being addressed by any of these measures. Odyssey, with its experience in providing security software for sensitive financial segments came to the finding that most of these problems can be traced to a single root cause, which is asymmetry of digital identity. The hackers and other bad guys know who their victims are but the victims are sadly ignorant.

The products Odyssey releases today address this problem directly. By providing a way for senders to authenticate their mails, SMS and other messages, the hackers cannot wear their convenient masks anymore and the victims now have the power.

The situation is not unlike when we were in the midst of the pandemic when all and sundry measures like social distance and wearing masks and sanitizing hands were suggested and enforced but in the end it was a vaccine that eliminated the threat completely. It is the equivalent of a software vaccine we are releasing today.”

xorkeesign Mail is a browser or mail client extension software that provides for senders to digitally sign their mails and for verifiers to verify the signatures. Odyssey offers the verification functionality absolutely free so that the entire emailing population can arm themselves against mail based phishing attacks and other scams. If the users maintain the hygiene of not acting on a mail unless the signature on that is verified, they will remain provably safe.

xorkeesign Spot, a mobile app brings the same signature feature to SMS and other messages. While there is S/MIME and other server protocols for protecting emails, there is not even any attempted protection of the short messages. Odyssey scores a global first in allowing message senders to digitally sign their messages and the recipients to verify them.

xorkeesign Spot also can be used to ask a user to prove his identity. This can happen when two users engage in a voice or video call or even in a personal meeting. While images of ID Cards, voices and even video can be easily faked, xorkeesign offers an identity that is based on cryptography and cannot be faked even by an AI.

Odyssey has also made additions to its AltaSigna Enterprise software for large organizations to distribute millions of digitally signed mails and SMS to their customers and prospects. Verification for the customers is already free.

The identity recognized by xorkeesign is digital certificate based either directly or attested by a digital certificate holder for other people in his organization thus making it economically viable for even enterprises that want to empower thousands of their employees. The organizations can also attest extended and context-specific attributes of their employees – A doctor’s specialization can be attested by the hospital, a lawyer’s by his law firm and a researcher’s by his university. The subjects can also determine the attributes they need to reveal or hide depending on the need. This would also make the xorkeesign Spot app the answer to the problem of social media in ascertaining the users’ age without accessing any of his other private data

We expect between them xorkeesign mail and xorkeesign Spot will let the target user base of 200 million email users and over a billion mobile users to stay secure from scams of any kind. We also hope that as this usage increases, the scam statistics for the country will move towards zero.

Availability

xorkeesign Mail and xorkeesign Spot are now available for businesses and individuals. For verification both are absolutely free for use and signers pay a subscription.

To learn more or request a demonstration, visit www.odysseytec.com/xorkeesignmail

About Odyssey Technologies Limited

Odyssey Technologies Limited is an information security company headquartered in Chennai, India, with experience in developing security solutions for businesses and individuals. The company specializes in authentication frameworks and digital signature solutions that ensure trust and integrity in digital interactions.

In recent years, Odyssey has sought to expand the scope of public key usage well beyond traditional PKI by building a more comprehensive and inclusive framework styled xorkeeTM. Built on this framework, Odyssey's current solutions go beyond traditional digital signature applications. xorkeeTM has also pioneered its plug-and-play architecture for DSC tokens even on mobile phones for the first time ever. Its product portfolio includes document signing software, transaction authentication solutions, and government-to-citizen (G2C) extensions for services like tax filing, GST, EPFO, etc. Odyssey also offers xorkeeauth, a password and OTP-free, simple public key-based authentication that is usable for everything from web logins to large transactions worth millions of rupees. This aligns with the Reserve Bank of India's push for OTP-free and better authentication systems.

Odyssey focuses on practical, reliable solutions that seamlessly work with existing systems to address the evolving demands of industries and public services. Through its innovative approach, Odyssey enables organizations to secure digital interactions, build trust, and enhance operational efficiency.

The Chennai-based Unified Voice Communication, a leading Voice over IP (VoIP) service provider in India and Philippines, recently organised a one-day workshop on cybersecurity. This initiative aimed to equip IT networking and infrastructure management professionals with the latest knowledge and tools to counter evolving cybersecurity threats.

Unified Voice Communication Conducts Cybersecurity Workshop; Announces Partnership with VTF University, USA

The workshop witnessed enthusiastic participation from IT professionals such as IT heads, system administrators, network engineers, and infrastructure management experts across IT and ITES sectors in the city. The sessions were led by two eminent cybersecurity experts: Mr. Tarun Malhotra, Lead Auditor in Cybersecurity, and Mr. Dheeraj Sharma, Cybersecurity Specialist.

The topics covered included: The workshop covered various types of cyber-attacks such as spyware, viruses, ransomware, and worms known as malware; phishing, spoofing, backdoor trojan, password attacks, IoT attacks, and cryptojacking. Participants were sensitised to use strong passwords, update software, exercise caution before clicking on links from unknown sources, enable multi-factor authentication, and other “cyber hygiene” measures.

During the event, Unified Voice Communication announced a significant partnership with VTF University, USA—a nonprofit organisation dedicated to advancing cybersecurity education globally. Under this collaboration, Unified Voice Communication has been appointed as the program’s representative and subject matter expert in India. This partnership will enable the delivery of specialized certification programs, workshops, and interactive training sessions in cybersecurity, further enhancing professional education for Indian IT professionals.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Krishnan Nagarajan, Director, said that taking strong cybersecurity measures provide a wide range of benefits for organisations such as: protection of sensitive data, prevention of financial loss, business continuity, enhanced reputation, rapid incident response, increased customer trust, and compliance with regulations.

He also pointed out that cyberattacks have grown increasingly sophisticated. However, human error remains the leading cause of damage to digital assets. It requires the right knowledge and tools to prevent cyberattacks.

Mr. Krishnan Nagarajan added that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility among internet service providers (ISPs), system administrators, and end users. “Hence, as a leading ISP committed to fostering a safe digital environment for our clients, we organised this workshop to share insights into the latest cybersecurity threats and trends. And to provide hands-on experience for the participants in configuring firewalls, setting access controls, and ensuring compliance with security standards such as HIPAA and SOC2.”

On the strategic collaboration with VTF University, he noted “We are proud to collaborate with VTF University to deliver cutting-edge cybersecurity education and training. Participants will earn 1 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit for every 50 minutes spent in Unified Voice Communication-led sessions, helping professionals maintain their skills and credentials.”

For more details, please visit: www.unifiedvoice.in

About Unified Voice Communication
Unified Voice Communication, headquartered in Chennai, offers a comprehensive range of telecom services, including: VoIP solutions, Free unlimited calls, Business SMS, and Virtual receptionists. As a Tier 1 service provider with over 20 years of expertise and a team of 100+ professionals, the company has a strong presence in the Indian cities of Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Noida, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, besides Manila and Delaware. Its offerings include inbuilt call analytics, single routing plans, and SIP termination protocols, ensuring seamless and efficient communication solutions.

The new CEH v13 now with the AI Edge

CEH v13 provides in-depth training by integrating AI into all five phases of ethical hacking, from reconnaissance and scanning to gaining access, maintaining access, and covering tracks to help bridge the AI Chasm. Through the course, learners will be equipped to leverage AI to enhance their hacking techniques, hack AI systems to automate their ethical hacking tasks while driving up to 40% efficiency in cyber defense and doubling their productivity.

“AI has already begun to radically transform the cybersecurity landscape,” said Jay Bavisi, Group President of EC-Council. “The launch of CEH v13 represents a major leap forward in cybersecurity education, with AI taking center stage in the curriculum. As AI tools for both attackers and defenders continue to proliferate, building AI skills is already becoming a key factor for employers looking to hire and retain cybersecurity talent.”

Inspired by the findings of EC-Council’s 2024 CEH Threat Report, the CEH v13 program is designed to leverage a unique four-phase learning framework based on the principles of Learn, Certify, Engage, and Compete, offering current and prospective cybersecurity professionals comprehensive knowledge of AI in cybersecurity through courses and hands-on learning experiences. The program includes 221 labs, attack vectors, hacking tools, a lab environment which simulates real-time environment and a Capture the Flag global hacking competition which will run all year long. The year-long competition allows individuals to continually sharpen their skills as needed while keeping them prepared to operate and defend in an increasingly complex cyber environment.

As part of the CEHv13 program, trainees will participate in 40 hours of rigorous training though instructional practice and education, followed by a yearlong, month-to-month competition across various technologies to help learners obtain world class operational skills in ethical hacking.

Course participants will experience more than 550 attack techniques and 4000+ commercial grade security tools.

Key highlights of CEH v13 include:

• World's first ethical hacking program harnessing the power of AI

• Master AI-driven skills and Learn Hacking AI systems: Learn to leverage AI for enhanced hacking techniques and how to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in AI systems.

• Core domains of Cybersecurity: CEH strengthen your core domains of cybersecurity with a practical learning approach, which enables CEH to map across 45+ job roles over many industries.

• Focus on the OWASP Top 10 AI Attacks: Gain expertise in mitigating threats like prompt injection, insecure output handling, training data poisoning, and more.

• 221 hands-on labs and 4000+ commercial-grade hacking tools: Develop practical skills in a real-time simulated environment.

• Knowledge-Based and Practical Exam: Validate your skills with both a 4-hour, knowledge-based exam and a 6-hour, fully practical exam as part of the CEH Master program.

For more information about the Certified Ethical Hacker CEH v13, visit www.eccouncil.org/cehv13ai/.

About EC-Council

EC-Council invented the Certified Ethical Hacker. Founded in 2001 in response to 9/11, EC-Council's mission is to provide the training and certifications apprentice and experienced cybersecurity professionals need to keep corporations, government agencies, and others who employ them safe from attack.

Best known for its Certified Ethical Hacker program, EC-Council today offers 200 different pieces of training, certificates, and degrees in everything from Computer Forensic Investigation and Security Analysis to Threat Intelligence and Information Security. An ISO/IEC 17024 Accredited Organization recognized under the U.S. Defense Department Directive 8140/8570 and many other authoritative cybersecurity bodies worldwide, EC-Council has certified over 350,000 professionals across the globe. EC-Council is the gold standard in cybersecurity education and certification, trusted by seven of the Fortune 10, half of the Fortune 100, and the intelligence communities of 150 nations.

A truly global organization with a driving belief in bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion to the modern cybersecurity workforce, EC-Council maintains 11 offices in the US, the UK, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

The company can be reached online at www.eccouncil.org.

Press Contact: press@eccouncil.org.

While this product has already saved $9 million since its inception in April 2024 and has been adopted by 3 of the top Indian banks and several more in the testing phase, the financial capital got to see it in action at their booth during the Global Fintech festival held between 28th and 30th August in Mumbai.
 

The pressing need for such solutions was evident at the largest global fintech festival held at Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address, was quick to point out, “No matter what schemes are introduced, cyber fraudsters find a way,” underscoring the need to develop technology that can adapt and evolve as fraudsters evolve. In his address, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, also emphasized the critical importance of real-time monitoring and regulatory compliance. 
 

These calls-to-action all point to an urgent need for collaboration between all stakeholders, including banks, NBFCs, regulators, authorities, and most importantly tech providers that can stay ahead of evolving sophisticated fraud tactics undertaken by money mule recruiters.
 

Both the National Payments Corporation of India and the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub took to the stage to announce their upcoming projects aimed at fighting the mule pandemic. The central concern remained reducing the time needed to detect fraud.
 

"Most financial institutions today have rule-based engines that create lakhs of alerts for potentially fraudulent transactions. Then a team of analysts sift through them trying to separate the false positives. By the time this process is done, the money has already passed through an entire network of mule accounts. Reducing this time from transaction to detection is the need of the hour, and this can only be done with sophisticated AI technology," Rajesh Bansal - CEO, RBiH during a panel discussion at GFF.
 

Bureau is one step ahead. Instead of a reactive approach, its technology aims to identify potential mule accounts proactively right at the time of onboarding.
 

Bureau has maintained its position as the first line of defense for financial institutions against mule activity purely because of its wide range of solutions, deep expertise in the field, and a holistic approach to eradicating money mules from the financial ecosystem.
 

Initially designed to detect mules during the onboarding process, Bureau's latest evolution of the Money Mule Score, introduces a more advanced method for detecting mules at onboarding as well as dormant mules. By leveraging link analysis that powers a proprietary Graph Identity Network, Bureau's unique solution now also excels in identifying mule accounts coming out of dormancy. These typically show signs of account takeovers by fraudsters, peddlers who sell their accounts, or the accounts of mule scam victims.
 

“Mules are such an invasive issue in the ecosystem, especially considering the frontline victims are always genuine customers, many of them belonging to the lower strata of the economy.” The dangers posed by mules post the account opening stage were highlighted by a spokesperson from a bank in India with $5 billion in deposits while speaking to the Bureau team at GFF.
 

Having already identified 300k mules across the ecosystem, Bureau has reinforced trust within the community and has helped protect genuine customers from engaging in financial services safely. Bureau’s score has a proven record of higher accuracy on True Positives of fraudulent actors, leading to a ~45% reduction in operation costs for its clients because of its ability to bring down the need for enhanced due diligence for account opening purposes.
 

Bureau’s CTO, Sandesh GS, during a GFF panel discussion, emphasized how, "With technology that passively operates in the background, we verify individuals in milliseconds, enabling seamless transactions. Our platform is able to process signals from over 600 million verified identities without disrupting the user experience.”
 

Bureau remains dedicated to its vision of enabling trust-driven digital interactions while preserving a seamless user experience for genuine customers.

Jinendra Khobare, Solution Architect, Sensfrx, Secure Layer7

Phishing is a rapidly growing internet crime, with a reported 65% increase in phishing attacks in 2020 compared to the previous year. To combat phishing, it is essential to employ advanced security measures that combine user education and awareness with technical controls, such as multi-factor authentication and web filtering, to prevent financial losses and protect sensitive user data from being compromised.

A more targeted and sophisticated form of phishing is spear phishing, which focuses on specific individuals or groups, often because they have access to valuable information or resources. In spear phishing attacks, the attacker typically researches the target's personal and professional relationships, interests, and online behavior to craft a convincing and personalized message. Once the attacker gains access to the target's system, they may use the victim's contact lists to launch further attacks on friends, family, co-workers, and business contacts, creating a ripple effect of compromise and data breaches. By understanding the differences between phishing and spear phishing, individuals and organizations can better prepare themselves to detect and respond to these types of threats. For example, once a victim’s social networking account has been compromised, attackers can use the victim’s account to communicate with the victim’s social network. Attackers do not limit themselves to attacking their target’s corporate accounts and will seek to compromise the personal systems of Information Workers knowing that these systems often have remote access to corporate assets.

Anti-Phishing Measures

To combat the escalating threat of phishing, various countermeasures have been developed by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG). The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is a global coalition of industry, law enforcement, and government agencies working together to combat phishing and other forms of cybercrime through information sharing, research, and advocacy. APWG aggregates phishing reports and shares intelligence with its members. Advanced security tools, such as browser extensions and built-in features, aid in detecting phishing attempts.

Internet search engines and web browsers play a crucial role in identifying and mitigating phishing sites. By continuously indexing billions of web pages and allowing users to report suspicious sites, they help protect users from malicious URLs and IP addresses. Users are warned when attempting to access known phishing websites, thanks to integrated and regularly updated blocklists

Advanced Techniques in Phishing Detection

Researchers have explored advanced techniques to enhance phishing detection, including the combination of weak classifiers, ensemble-based classifiers, and machine learning algorithms. These approaches have shown promising results, with some studies achieving detection rates of up to 95% as reported by S. Rao and his team in their paper "Phishing Detection using Machine Learning" in 2020 and reducing false positives by up to 70% as found by A. K. Singh and his team in their paper "A Survey on Phishing Detection Techniques" in 2019.

The effectiveness of anti-phishing tools is evaluated through usability studies done by M. E Whiteman in his paper Evaluating the Effectiveness of Anti-Phishing Tools, which have revealed that these tools can reduce phishing susceptibility by up to 50%. Large-scale online learning has also been employed to identify suspicious URLs, with some systems achieving accuracy rates of up to 90% as reported by Y. Zhang and his team in their paper "Phishing URL Detection using Online Learning" in 2020. Moreover, innovative approaches such as DNS-poisoning-based phishing attack detection and multiple classifier combination have been shown to disrupt the phishing ecosystem, forcing attackers to evolve their tactics. The implications of these advancements are significant, with the potential to prevent millions of dollars in losses and protect sensitive user data from being compromised.

The Functioning of the Phishing Detector in Sensfrx: An Overview

The phishing detector in Sensfrx serves as an advanced barrier against cyber threats, specifically designed for users with limited technical expertise. It operates in real-time, examining URLs during user interactions and meticulously analyzing their structures and content for potential signs of phishing. The detector’s primary advantage is its integration with a machine learning model that continuously learns from a diverse dataset of phishing URLs. This model employs a combination of character-level and word-level CNNs to analyze URLs, utilizing techniques such as text vectorization, embedding, and convolutional neural networks to extract features and detect phishing patterns.

For users without technical proficiency, this translates into an automated protective mechanism that operates unobtrusively in the background, providing proactive protection without necessitating user intervention. The model’s dynamic learning process bolsters user confidence by offering a vigilant guard against phishing attempts. The ease of integration into existing security frameworks makes Sensfrx accessible to users without specialised knowledge, thereby providing a user-friendly interface for enhanced cybersecurity in the rapidly evolving digital world.

The machine learning model’s dynamic learning process is a key feature, instilling confidence in users by ensuring that the system remains vigilant against evolving phishing techniques. The model’s ability to adapt to new threats and learn from real-world scenarios makes it a robust and reliable companion in the ever-changing landscape of cyber threats.

Notably, the phishing detection mechanism integrated into Sensfrx is designed with user-friendliness in mind. It can be easily incorporated into existing security frameworks, making it accessible to a broad range of users, regardless of their level of cybersecurity expertise. The intuitive user interface provides a seamless experience, empowering users to effectively defend against phishing attacks without requiring specialized knowledge.

Conclusion

In conclusion, phishing is a multifaceted online threat with diverse tactics and significant implications for user security and data integrity. On the internet, malware hosting websites are more prevalent than phishing websites. Consequently, drive-by download attacks and malware distribution websites may be overlooked in a cybersecurity strategy that concentrates on phishing attack mitigation but leaves out mitigations for higher likelihood threats. Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Indonesia are among the places where there have previously been higher than usual numbers of phishing sites.

• Turn on Two-Factor Authentication: Enhance security by enabling two- or multi-factor authentication to reduce phishing vulnerability.

• Cybersecurity Software: Choose reputable cybersecurity software for identifying and thwarting phishing attempts.

• Workers’ Education: Decrease the likelihood of falling prey to phishing by providing frequent employee training on safe data handling and recognizing phishing signs.

• Take Care When Sending Emails: Be cautious of all received emails, checking for spelling errors, urgent subject lines, corporate information, and verifying trustworthiness and the existence of readily available phishing kits simplifies the process, allowing virtually anyone to launch a phish

Article by: Jinendra Khobare, Solution Architect, Sensfrx, Secure Layer7.

L-R Dr. Rakshit Tandon, Mr. Rubaab Sood, ACP Priyanshu Dewan, DCP Siddhant Jain, Charu Maini, Principal DAV School, Sec49 Gurugram

The event was inaugurated in the esteemed presence of Commissioner of Police, Gurugram, Shri Vikas Kumar Arora, along with Shri Siddhant Jain, DCP - South Gurugram, Shri Priyanshu Dewan, ACP Cyber Crime, Gurugram Police, Mr. Ashwani Rana, Chief of Policy at Zupee and Mr. Rubaab Sood, Associate Director - Policy at Zupee.

This year witnessed an overwhelming response, with 15,000 applications received and 1,100 interns selected from across India & overseas. Of this, 550 candidates, including working professionals and college goers above 18 years of age, will be trained under the Gurugram Cyber Police Department under the guidance of Cyber Security Expert Dr. Rakshit Tandon. The training is structured to provide young minds with an immersive experience in the field of cyber security, promoting cyber safety and building a network of law-abiding netizens. Post the completion of the program, few selected candidates will gain hands-on experience by working directly with the Gurugram Cyber Police, tackling real-world cybersecurity challenges.

Addressing the gathering, Commissioner Gurugram Police, Shri Vikas Kumar Arora, said, “We are always in pursuit of excellence for our Cyber Crime Detection Unit, and we understand the need to actively promote cybersecurity among the public. With the help of the latest technology, we are updating public interface systems and internal police processes, which will enable the department to improve our efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. With this internship, we want to work with engineering and management students and leverage their assistance to enhance the process.”

Sharing his thoughts on the collaboration, Mr. Ashwani Rana, Chief of Policy, Zupee, mentioned, "At Zupee, we're deeply committed to fostering a safer online environment and promoting responsible gaming. With our honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of achieving a 1 trillion dollar digital economy, we recognize the pivotal roles that the digital and online gaming sector will play. We believe in the importance of promoting a safe cyber environment to contribute to this monumental growth. Zupee is honored to lead this cyber security training program with Gurugram Cyber Police, a partnership that signifies a significant step towards nurturing a generation of responsible digital nagriks."

Shri Siddhant Jain, DCP-South Gurugram, expressed, "We are in the 11th edition of the Gurugram Police Cyber Security Summer Internship. Our flagship program began with 22 interns in 2013, and has grown to be a strong force of 1100 bright minds today. This internship stands as a testament to our unwavering commitment to fostering a generation of cyber-aware citizens. The interns represent students all across the nation united by a common goal to become the backbone of India’s cybersecurity. We received an overwhelming response with 15,000 applications in a week, which is a clear indication of the growing importance of the program."

Emphasizing the importance of the internship, Dr. Rakshit Tandon, Cyber Security Expert, said, “We started this journey in 2013 and today, we have several cybersecurity experts from previous batches engaged with the Armed Forces and other key organizations. All these students, who belonged to different walks of life, interned for the Cyber Warriors program with Gurugram Cyber Police.”

The collaboration between Zupee and the Gurugram Cyber Police for the Cyber Warriors Program highlights collective efforts on the part of both the organizations to offer comprehensive training on crucial aspects of cyber safety, while also striving to build a community of well-informed, vigilant digital citizens, paving the way for a more secure and informed digital future.

Introducing The World’s First AI Call Scanner by Truecaller

Truecaller, the world’s leading global communications platform, is proud to announce the latest salvo in its arsenal of spam and scam fighting abilities: the AI Call Scanner. AI Call Scanner is trained to detect and differentiate between human voices and AI-synthesized voices, empowering people to safeguard themselves against potential scams and fraudulent activities.
 

The AI Call Scanner is built right into the Truecaller Android app, is part of the Premium subscription and is being rolled out in the US first, followed by India and other top Truecaller markets. The system is designed with simplicity and effectiveness in mind. If a person receives a suspicious call, all they have to do is tap a dedicated button within the Truecaller interface. The caller’s voice is recorded and this voice sample is then processed by our advanced AI model, which has been rigorously trained to identify the unique characteristics of human speech and distinguish it from AI-generated voices. All this happens in just a few seconds and we are proud to launch with a high degree of accuracy.

“The risks of AI voice scams are increasing due to the proliferation of AI voice synthesizers. Our goal was to find an effective and reliable solution before things got out of hand. I am proud to announce that Truecaller is the world’s calling app with AI voice detection built in. Truecaller already uses AI in many different ways and this was a logical and much-needed extension of Truecaller’s scam fighting abilities,“ said Alan Mamedi, CEO and Co-founder at Truecaller.

While AI Call Scanner is launching on Android first, we are already exploring avenues for further improvement and expansion, including an imminent iOS launch. Our team is actively researching ways to refine the AI model's accuracy, reduce response times, and adapt to emerging trends in voice synthesis technology. Additionally, we are considering the potential integration of AI Call Scanner with other communication platforms and devices to extend its reach and impact; for example, building a chatbot where people can forward recorded clips for detection.

You can read more about this latest feature (and more) on our official blog and community.

Media colleagues can email us at: press@truecaller.com

About Truecaller

We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 383 million active users, with more than a billion downloads since launch and close to 50 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2021. Headquartered in Stockholm since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since October, 2021. Visit truecaller.com for more information. 

CyberDisti is one of the leading email security distributors in its market. The company has offices in Mumbai, Kerala, Delhi, Bangalore, and Tamil Nadu in India; Kenya in Africa; Dubai in the UAE; and Oman. This distributor now solely offers Trustifi solutions to its network of managed service providers, giving credence to Trustifi's position as a one-stop resource for email cybersecurity offerings. Trustifi's comprehensive suite offers both inbound and outbound security encompassing anti-malware and antivirus, data loss protection, AES-256 encryption with tokenization capabilities, automated compliance to a host of global regulations, smart archiving features, an account takeover protection module, and an integrated new platform providing customizable threat simulation capabilities.
 

Cybersecurity continues to be a major concern in the UAE and its neighboring nations, as threats compound across the globe following the rise of AI-driven malware. For example, an increase in cybersecurity breaches in the UAE has been documented by Dark Reading, which reported that 87% of companies in this region have experienced cyber incidents in the past two years from both external and internal actors. And in India, a December cyberattack on an online government platform, the e-Nagarpalika portal of Madhya Pradesh, shut down that body's services and compromised the data of residents across 412 cities, triggering a massive loss of revenue.
 

"Cybersecurity issues are only amplifying as AI-based technologies advance, to the point where it's becoming near impossible for network users to tell viable emails apart from damaging imposter phishing attempts-and many of the largest breaches in recent memory can be traced to a single password compromise. Companies need to be more proactive and take these risks out of their users' hands by leveraging advanced, AI-based, layered security solutions. CyberDisti understands that, and has taken action for their solution providers," said Rom Hendler, CEO and co-founder of Trustifi. "The fact that CyberDisti has entrusted us to be its sole provider of email cybersecurity solutions is evidence of the wide-ranging capability of our products. We're proud to be able to extend these AI-based protections to CyberDisti's customers throughout India-one of the most populated regions in the world-in addition to the UAE and Africa."

Trustifi's AI-powered solutions provide superior protection compared to traditional security packages. Too many conventional SEG (security email gateway)-based solutions leverage blacklisting and whitelisting of known malicious IP addresses as their main tactic in filtering threats. Such methods are not adequate in this age of clever AI-generated and social engineering attacks, which lure victims to persuasive mock-ups of known vendor web sites in order to commandeer those users' credentials. In addition, Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks target high-level personnel, hacking their accounts and composing convincing requests to transfer money via wire. Blacklisting techniques simply can't detect these more sophisticated strategies. Only advanced AI-trained filters that interpret text and identify ill-intentioned keywords can flag such attempts. Trustifi's next generation solutions utilize these progressive methods.
 

"Trustifi's suite incorporates such a powerful range of capabilities, we felt they presented considerable benefits over many less-versatile email cybersecurity options," said Jibu John, CEO of CyberDisti. "Trustifi offers a born-in-the-cloud portfolio, developed specifically to address techniques that have developed since the advent of cutting-edge, AI-based threats. Their solutions leverage the same kinds of AI-driven tools to detect and help administrators remediate these advanced attacks. When we weighed these advantages, Trustifi was the clear choice to be our exclusive email cybersecurity provider."
 

Trustifi was recognized in the 2023 Gartner Market Guide for Email Security* for its Outbound Shield, Inbound Shield, and Account Takeover Protection solution. In addition, Trustifi's solutions have repeatedly been acknowledged through awards from esteemed sources such as CRN, the American Business Association, ChannelVision magazine, Expert Insights, the Cybersecurity Breakthrough Awards, SourceForge, and the "Globee" Business Awards.
 

*Gartner, "Market Guide for Email Security", Ravisha Chugh, Peter Firstbrook, Franz Hinner, 13 February 2023. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
 

go.trustifi.com/gartner-email
 

About Trustifi

Trustifi is a cybersecurity firm featuring solutions delivered on a software-as-a-service platform including sophisticated AI-driven tools. Trustifi leads the market with the easiest-to-use and deploy email security products providing both inbound and outbound email security from a single vendor. The most valuable asset to any organization, other than its employees, is the data contained in its email, and Trustifi's key objective is keeping clients' data, reputations, and brands safe from all threats related to email. With Trustifi's Inbound Shield, Data Loss Prevention, Account Takeover Protection, and Email Encryption, clients are always one step ahead of attackers. www.trustifi.com.
 

Follow Trustifi: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

This collaboration includes CyberWise training sessions led by Truecaller in partnership with Gurugram Police to educate citizens on preventing cyber fraud and reporting online harms. Furthermore, Truecaller has expanded its Government Directory Services in Gurugram, by incorporating verified police contact numbers to combat impersonation fraud.

Verified Numbers of Gurugram Police on the Government Directory Services feature on the Truecaller application

This integration will empower users to easily identify verified numbers, thereby reducing the risk of falling victim to impersonation scams. In a bid to promote online safety awareness, Truecaller and Gurugram Police will further extend the initiative across the state and support the Utkrisht Society for Safety, a non-profit initiative by Haryana Police. Truecaller is committed to aiding in fostering safety in communication and combating spam and fraud, thereby contributing to a safer digital ecosystem.

Sharing his thoughts on the partnership, the commissioner of Police, Gurugram, Shri Siddhant Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Staff), South Gurugram said, "Gurugram Police is actively dedicated to increasing cyber safety awareness and empowering citizens to stay safe online. The ongoing challenges of cyber fraud are concerning, as Gurugram Police receives around 100-120 complaints daily, with an average monthly loss of ₹40 crore due to cyber fraud. To combat this, our collaborative efforts with Truecaller aim to reduce the impersonation of Gurugram Police officials by verifying official numbers through Truecaller’s Government Directory Services. Through the cyber safety training sessions, our mission is to provide citizens with the essential knowledge and skills needed to make informed choices for their protection while harnessing opportunities in the digital world. We look forward to working collaboratively with Truecaller to ensure the safety of citizens in Gurugram and across the state.”

Sharing his thoughts on the partnership, Mr Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Chief Product Officer and Managing Director at Truecaller India, said, "Truecaller is committed to working with law enforcement agencies and the government to curb online frauds and ensure cyber safety of citizens. This MoU marks a significant stride in our efforts to work alongside law enforcement in addressing the escalating number of fraud cases, including preventing the impersonation of police officials through verification on the Government Directory Services. We have previously also partnered with other law enforcement agencies such as Delhi Police and Assam Police as part of our initiatives to combat online fraud. Moreover, we are actively engaged in enhancing citizens' cyber fraud prevention capabilities through cyber safety training programs.”

About Truecaller
We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 374 million active users, with more than a billion downloads since launch and close to 50 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2021. Headquartered in Stockholm since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since October, 2021. Visit truecaller.com for more information. 

For more information, please contact press@truecaller.com

Rakuten India Enterprise Pvt. Ltd., a key technology hub and development center of Rakuten Group Inc., has issued an urgent warning to the public regarding a fraudulent scheme carried out under the guise of an entity named "R-ole". The company has uncovered unauthorized activities where its brand and leadership identities are being exploited in a scam soliciting personal funds under deceitful pretenses.

This scam is mainly spreading through messaging platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp. It involves over 17,000 subscribers and bogus invitations for an office tour that does not exist, planned from April 1^st to 3^rd.

Fake documents such as the "Activity Flow Sheet", which outlines the supposed activities planned during this office tour, and invitations using Rakuten India’s office address still continue to circulate. Rakuten India urges the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious events related to the scam known as “R-ole”, to the concerned police authorities. Rakuten India takes this matter extremely seriously and is taking firm action to combat the unauthorized use of its brand as part of fraudulent, criminal activity. Rakuten India asserts in the strongest terms that it never solicits financial contributions or personal banking details for any purpose. Rakuten India hopes that by highlighting these developments, unsuspecting individuals will not be duped by the scam.

Additionally, Rakuten India wants to clarify that no activities are planned at its office in India from April 1^st to 3^rd. This should serve as a reminder to remain cautious and not fall victim to this scam.

Upon the discovery of individuals being duped into an ostensible “R-OLE Business Plan” that falsely claims a partnership with Rakuten India and other reputed brands, Rakuten India has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the Cyber Crime Police.

A comprehensive investigation is active, and expedient measures are being taken to curb these criminal acts.

About Rakuten India Enterprise

Rakuten India is the global product and innovation centre for Rakuten Group, Inc. Rakuten India enables global businesses in the areas of e-commerce, fintech, advertising, mobile, content and entertainment with deep expertise in the areas of data science and engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud, security, distributed systems and more.

With around 2000 employees and growing, Rakuten India is housed in Crimson House Bangalore.

In an era dominated by digital advancements, the rise of deepfake technology poses a significant threat to the integrity of information and media. Deepfakes, synthetic media created using artificial intelligence algorithms, can convincingly manipulate audio and video content, raising concerns about misinformation, identity theft, and the erosion of trust in media. As this challenge looms large, the marriage of cloud computing and cutting-edge technologies emerges as a crucial defense against the deepfake menace.

Deepfake Menace

 

Cloud computing, with its scalable infrastructure and processing power, plays a pivotal role in both the creation and mitigation of deep fakes. Numerous alarming incidents employing deepfake videos were reported in India in 2023. One such occurrence was actor Rashmika Mandanna, whose face was placed on that of a British-Indian social media celebrity.

 

According to the "2023 State of Deepfakes Report'' by "Home Security Heroes", a US-based web security services provider, deepfake films have increased fivefold since 2019, underscoring the urgency of addressing this evolving threat. In this article, we explain, what can be done about the deepfake so far, and how cloud computing and cutting-edge technologies have emerged to tackle the situation.

 

How do Cloud-Based Threat Intelligence Platforms contribute to proactive defense strategies against deepfake?

Mr. Ashish Laddha, Chief Delivery Officer at Quarks Technosoft explains, “Cloud-based threat intelligence platforms play a crucial role in coordinating responses to emerging deepfake challenges and contribute to a proactive defense against deepfake threats. These platforms leverage the collective intelligence gathered from various sources, including global network traffic, user behavior, and known threat databases. In the context of deepfakes, cloud-based threat intelligence platforms can analyze patterns and identify potential threats by monitoring the dissemination of deepfake content across cloud networks. By continuously updating threat databases and sharing real-time insights, these platforms enable a coordinated response among cloud service providers, security professionals, and law enforcement agencies. This proactive defense approach allows for the rapid identification and mitigation of deepfake threats before they can cause significant harm.”

 

How can global collaboration enhance the effectiveness of combating deepfake threats on a worldwide scale?

Bhaskar Ganguli, Director of Marketing and Sales at Mass Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., highlights the effectiveness of collaboration on cloud platforms in creating a global network of expertise. Cloud-based collaboration tools foster instantaneous information exchange and group problem-solving, facilitating seamless global cooperation among security experts. This global network enables the quick sharing of threat indicators, detection approaches, and responses, forming a united front against ever-evolving deepfake techniques.

 

How does adaptability play a crucial role in addressing the challenges posed by the constantly evolving deepfake landscape?

Ratan Dargan, Co-founder and CTO of ThoughtSol Infotech, said, "As the deepfake landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace, adaptability emerges as our greatest ally in confronting its myriad challenges. Cloud computing's inherent flexibility empowers us to swiftly embrace advancements in detection technologies, staying ahead of the curve. By seamlessly integrating modern algorithms and machine learning models into our cloud systems, we not only enhance our detection capabilities but also foster an environment of constant innovation. In this ever-changing landscape, adaptability isn't just advantageous—it's imperative."

Committed to the purpose of providing a safe communication experience and addressing the growing threats of online and mobile fraud in our increasingly digitised society, Truecaller, the global leader in safe digital communications, joined forces with the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry to host a Fraud Prevention Summit in New Delhi. The summit served as a collaborative platform for various stakeholders, including industry leaders, government representatives, technology innovators, policymakers, and safety experts, to explore the crucial theme of 'Enhancing Safety in Digital Communication'. The event facilitated a meaningful dialogue on comprehending the legal, social, and economic impacts of fraud, as well as harnessing the power of AI and technology to mitigate risks and combat fraudulent activities in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Alan Mamedi facilitating Secretary, TRAI, V. Raghunandan

Speaking as the chief guest at the event, Secretary, TRAI, V. Raghunandan underscored the significance of combating digital fraud, stating, “Only one agency, public or private cannot address all the dimensions of security in the country. The approach must be collaborative with strategic public-private partnerships. India is likely to lead such developments and this is the reason why we must look at every security dimension. Collaboration is the new mantra!”

Alan Mamedi, Co-founder and CEO of Truecaller highlighted the company’s efforts and stated, "At Truecaller, we are dedicated to advancing our products and services to match the swift evolution of fraudulent activities facilitated by technology. Our commitment involves proactively mitigating risks through innovation and fostering collaboration among all stakeholders. This collective effort is crucial in preventing fraud, safeguarding citizens, and ensuring a safe digital experience for citizens. The Fraud Prevention Summit represents a significant step in this direction, uniting key stakeholders to adopt effective strategies to counter emerging threats and fortify user trust in digital communication.”

Furthering adding, Sandip Chatterjee, ‘Scientist G’ and Group Coordinator of the Cyber Law and Data Governance Division at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said, “On behalf of MEITY, I’d like to congratulate Truecaller & PHD chamber of Commerce & Industry for organising the Fraud Prevention Summit to raise awareness and bring together stakeholders to ensure responsibility and safety of citizens in digital communication.”

The Fraud Prevention Summit also witnessed the esteemed participation of Dr.Sandip Chatterjee, ‘Scientist G’ and Group Coordinator of the Cyber Law and Data Governance Division at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, along with Naveen Jakhar, Assistant Director General at the Department of Telecommunications, and Brijlal Singh, Deputy RBI Ombudsman and Rakesh Maheshwari, independent consultant & former Senior Director and Group Coordinator, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Truecaller has forged close collaborations with various government departments and agencies, including the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India as well as law enforcement agencies and civil society organisations. These partnerships are aimed at combating fraud and enhancing safety in digital communication. With over 262 million users in India, Truecaller is a trusted ally for protection against spam, scams, and fraud.

About Truecaller

We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 368 million active users, with more than a billion downloads since launch and close to 50 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2022. Headquartered in Stockholm since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since October, 2021.

Visit truecaller.com for more information.

Delhi Police, in collaboration with Truecaller, organized a cyber safety training session for citizens, as part of their ongoing partnership aimed at preventing cyber frauds, scams and raising cyber safety awareness among citizens. The CyberWise training session was conducted in Hindi, and focused on empowering individuals under the Delhi Police's Yuva program with essential digital safety skills. The training program included educating participants about fundamental digital hygiene practices, safeguarding personal information online, and tips to avoid cyber scams. Its primary goal is to reduce citizens' exposure to online harm while fostering trust in digital communication.
 

Ms. Suman Nalwa, DCP & PRO, Delhi Police and Ms. Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs, at Truecaller
 

In addition to raising awareness, the cyber safety training sessions encourage citizens to take requisite action by reporting online scams, spam, fraud, and harassment to Delhi Police.

Sharing her thoughts on the initiative, Ms Suman Nalwa, DCP & PRO, Delhi Police said, “Delhi Police is actively dedicated to increasing cyber safety awareness and empowering citizens to stay safe online. Our collaborative efforts with Truecaller have successfully reduced the impersonation of Delhi Police officials by verifying official numbers through Truecaller’s Government Directory Services. Through the CyberWise training sessions, our mission is to provide citizens and young participants of the Yuva Programme with the essential knowledge and skills needed to make informed choices for their protection while harnessing the opportunities in the digital world.”

Sharing her thoughts on the partnership, Ms. Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs, at Truecaller, said, "We are truly delighted to continue our mission of fostering online safety, with the Delhi Police, in line with the Government of India’s aim of making the internet open and safe, trusted and accountable for its citizens. CyberWise has already benefited over 1.6 million citizens nationwide, and we remain committed to contribute towards creating a digitally resilient community that can harness the internet's potential while staying safe from frauds and scams.”
 

CyberWise training being conducted in the local language to equip participants with online safety skills at the Saket Police Station

As part of the Truecaller & Delhi Police partnership, a variety of initiatives have been conducted to combat cybercrime. These initiatives include a range of capacity-building measures for the Delhi Police, online safety training sessions on emerging cybercrimes, and verifying all official numbers of Delhi Police personnel on Truecaller’s Government Directory Services to tackle impersonation.
 

About Truecaller

We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 356 million active users, with more than a billion downloads since launch and close to 50 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2021. Headquartered in Stockholm since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since October, 2021.

Visit truecaller.com for more information.

The string of messages received during this scam

A recent report prepared by CyberPeace, in collaboration with Autobot Infosec Private Limited and academic partners under the CyberPeace Center of Excellence (CCoE), highlights an online scam falsely associated with Tata Motors, a renowned automotive company.

This fraudulent campaign masquerades as an official Tata Motors promotion, luring unsuspecting individuals with enticing offers. Here's how the scam unfolds:

• Attractive Bait: The scam begins with an eye-catching image featuring Tata Motors' logo, the G20 logo, and a fleet of cars, designed to capture the attention of potential victims.

• Quiz Participation: Users are invited to participate in a quiz promising a free Tata Motors gift as a reward.

• Fake Congratulations: Upon completion of the quiz, a congratulatory message is displayed, further enticing users.

• Gift Attempts: Users are given three attempts to claim their prizes, presented as multiple gift boxes.

• Social Sharing Pressure: Instructions prompt users to share the campaign via WhatsApp, creating a sense of urgency and legitimacy.

Key findings from the study includes:

• Unofficial Website: The campaign does not reside on Tata Motors' official website, raising red flags.

• Redirections: Multiple link redirections indicate a lack of transparency.

• Unusual Sharing Request: Legitimate campaigns rarely demand sharing via WhatsApp.

• Too Good to Be True: The promised prizes are exceptionally attractive, a classic tactic to ensnare unsuspecting victims.

• Grammar Errors: Grammatical mistakes within the campaign content hint at its fraudulent nature.

• The domain names associated with the campaigns have the registrant country as China.

• Cybercriminals used Cloudflare technologies to mask the real IP addresses of the front end domains. The research team uncovered a China-linked analytical service in the backend during the investigation.

"Internet users must remain vigilant against these nefarious threats. It is paramount to exercise caution and double-check before interacting with suspicious links or attachments.  There is a need for international cyber cooperation between countries to bust the criminal gangs running the fraud campaigns affecting individuals and organisations to make Cyberspace resilient and peaceful," commented a spokesperson from CyberPeace.

CyberPeace Advisory:

• Refrain from opening messages received via social platforms that seem suspicious or unsolicited. Your initial discretion can be your best defence.

• Falling prey to such scams could compromise your entire system, potentially granting unauthorised access to your microphone, camera, text messages, contacts, pictures, videos, banking applications, and more. Protect your digital castle from invasion.

• Never, under any circumstances, share confidential information such as login credentials or banking details with entities you haven't verified as trustworthy.

• Before sharing any content or clicking on links within messages, always verify the legitimacy of the source. Protect not only yourself but also those in your digital circle.

• To confirm the authenticity of offers and messages, reach out directly to official sources and companies. Verify the legitimacy of enticing offers before taking any action.

About CyberPeace

CyberPeace Foundation is a leading not for profit organisation dedicated to enhancing cybersecurity and ensuring a safer digital landscape for all. They work tirelessly in collaboration with various partners to conduct research, raise awareness, and advocate for CyberPeace norms.

Mr. Dinanath Dubhashi, MD & CEO of L&T Finance Holdings Limited with fraud awareness mascot Sachet Kumar

The unveiling of the mascot and the campaign forms a part of the Cyber Jagrukta Week, an initiative aimed to educate, prevent, and combat cyber and digital frauds prevailing in the industry. ‘Sachet Kumar’ along with the campaign ‘#JaankarBaniyeSavdhaanRahiye’ will encourage people to practice secured financial transactions and promote digitally safe habits through social media posts. 

According to the National Crime Reporting Bureau (NCRB) the total number of cyber fraud cases in the country has increased by 84 percent in FY23 versus FY21. Under this initiative LTF will focus on educating the customers and employees on cyber safety habits and major fraud trends around phishing, vishing, UPI frauds, identity theft, skimming, etc.

As part of the initiative, LTF will employ a multi-faceted approach and leverage various channels to drive fraud awareness and mitigation methods through owned social media assets, dedicated page and mobile application, workshops, and educational drives.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Dinanath Dubhashi, Managing Director & CEO, L&T Finance Holdings Limited said, “With rapid technological development and increased use of the internet, comes the growing risk of cybercrimes. This has generated a huge need for proper digital safety measures and cybersecurity framework. The current cybersecurity landscape of India needs to evolve in conjunction with the increasing rate of cybercrimes.” 

“Our strategic plan Lakshya is based on four key pillars namely, a strong growth and profitability engine, demonstrable strength in risk management, creating a 'Fintech@Scale' and sustainable future growth through Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). In line with strong risk management which forms an integral part of the plan, LTF has launched its fraud risk awareness mascot ‘Sachet Kumar’ and the campaign ‘#JaankarBaniyeSavdhaanRahiye’ to educate customers and employees on fraud trends and motivate them to stay vigilant by keeping them informed about the modus operandi of the fraudsters and share tips to mitigate digital and other fraud attempts,” Mr. Dubhashi added. 

About L&T Finance Holdings (LTFH)
L&T Finance Holdings Limited (LTFH) (www.ltfs.com), a leading Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), offers a range of financial products and services through its subsidiary L&T Finance Limited (LTF) under the L&T Finance brand. Headquartered in Mumbai, the Company has been rated AAA-the highest credit rating for NBFCs-by four leading rating agencies. It has also received leadership scores and ratings by global and national Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating providers for its sustainability performance. The Company has also won many prestigious awards for its flagship CSR project - “Digital Sakhi” which is focused on women empowerment and digital and financial inclusion. Under Right to Win, being in the ‘right businesses’ has helped the Company become one of the leading financiers in key retail products. The Company is focused on creating a top-class, digitally-enabled retail finance Company as part of the Lakshya 2026 plan. The goal is to move the emphasis from product focus to customer focus and establish a robust retail portfolio with quality assets, thus creating a Fintech@Scale while keeping ESG at the core. Fintech@Scale is one of the pillars of the Company’s strategic roadmap - Lakshya 2026. The Company has over 7 crore customer database, and this database is being leveraged to cross-sell, up-sell as well as identify new customers. 

Truecaller launches SMS Fraud Protection

This is especially helpful for people who may not know how to spot fraud and mistakenly believe they are dealing with legitimate businesses. Currently available to all Android users, Fraud Protection intelligently recognizes fraudulent senders and messages. Our system also adapts to automatically discover new forms of fraud, even without user reports.

Unlike regular spam, frauds and scams are often malicious in nature. There are always new types of fraud around, especially in the name of legitimate businesses. This often leads to victims getting duped of hard-earned money within a fraction of a second.
 

How Fraud Protection Works
When it comes to scam and fraud, you are not alone! We estimate that over 100 million people using Truecaller have received at least one fraudulent SMS over the past three months. These frauds range from electricity bill payments, banks, job offers, KYC related, loans, charity, lottery and many other types.
 

Fraud Protection is completely free and available to all Truecaller users across India. For every single fraudulent message that a user receives, Truecaller will show a clearly marked red notification, warning the user not to take action. The notification will remain on screen till it is manually dismissed. It is important to note that Truecaller does not upload any messages. All processing happens locally on the device, thanks to our advanced AI filters.

Even if the user misses the warning and opens the fraudulent SMS, Truecaller automatically disables all links. The SMS thread will only be accessible if the user explicitly marks that sender as safe. This adds yet another layer of protection against fraud.
  
What sets Fraud Protection Apart?

• Truecaller has been analysing fraud for many years and has developed advanced artificial intelligence technology to predict them. We call this Fraud Intelligence.

• Our community of 338 Million helps us stay ahead of the latest frauds since we get daily feedback on SMS fraud from many thousands of users.

• Unlike other SMS applications, Truecaller partners with the government and businesses to ensure safe and efficient communication. Legitimate senders are verified on Truecaller by a verified badge and prominent green colour.

• Businesses and various Government agencies trust us by sending us regular scam reports, allowing us to further improve fraud detection.
   

By using Truecaller as your default messaging app, you can be rest assured that you clearly recognise legitimate businesses and are protected against the latest frauds.
 

You can help Truecaller and play your part in the community by reporting fraudulent messages within the app. It also helps greatly if you can spread the message to friends and family so that they can be aware and protected against the latest frauds.

About Truecaller
We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 338 million active users and more than a billion downloads since launch. Headquartered in Stockholm, since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since Oct 8th 2021.

For more information, please contact press@truecaller.com.

WhizHack Technologies Private Limited announced the signing of a strategic MOU with IIT Madras Pravartak. The association will entail joint research to develop breakthrough products to detect, predict and mitigate attacks on cyber physical systems. It will also build OT security solutions on ‘Made in India’ Shakti Chip and will also embark upon joint cybersecurity capacity building projects of national importance.
 

Team IIT Madras seals the deal with WhizHack to create a 'Self Reliant' Cyber Security Ecosystem

According to a 2022 Gartner study, cyber-attacks on organizations in critical infrastructure sectors have risen dramatically by 3900% between 2013 and 2020. Gartner security and risk leaders ranked the Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems as their top concerns for the next three to five years.

Commenting on the association, Dr. M. J. Shankar Raman, Chief Executive Officer, IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, said, "Strong Industry-Academia partnership is critical for an emerging India in advancing research and creating a skilled workforce. IIT-M Pravartak is extremely thrilled to collaborate with a specialist Indian player like WhizHack that is building original security products and training programs. Our ‘Made in India’ Shakti chip would be leveraged as a building block to build sustainable and cost effective security solutions for critical OT & IT infrastructure that are completely built, serviced and maintained in India."

Mr. Kallol Sil, Co-founder & CEO, WhizHack Technologies said, “Advanced state sponsored Cyberattacks are thwarting India's push to digitization and its global accent. WhizHack, as India’s only vertically integrated cyber security organisation, has built and deployed its ‘Made in India’ cyber threat detection and remediation system to defend critical infrastructure including Defence, Telecom, Power and Enterprises. Our association will collaborate for deep research in building next generation security products to serve India and global markets across OT and IT networks. We also want to empower employees of major institutions through trainings on latest cyber defense techniques, ultimately creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
 

WhizHack is India’s first vertically integrated cyber security company committed to democratizing cyber defence. The company is focused on an integrated approach – products, services and training. It has raised USD 3 million as Pre-Series A funding round by its existing investors Vedswasti Holdings, Netherlands and SAA Capital, Singapore at a valuation of $40 million. Founded in November 2020, WhizHack has grown its business from both Enterprise and Consumer segments by over 200% and shareholder value by over 20 times in less than 2 years. 

About IIT Madras Pravartak

IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation is a section 08 company funded by Department of Science and Technology under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems and hosted by IIT Madras, the No.1 NIRF ranked institute in India. It is engaged in conducting advanced research in various fields of technologies and participating in global standardization of the technologies in collaboration with key stakeholders in the market across industry and academia.

About WhizHack Technologies Private Limited

WhizHack Technologies is the first truly Indian company creating a vertically integrated cyber ecosystem. WhizHack and IIT Jodhpur have an MoU for collaborating on innovations in Cyber Security, AI and IoT.  WhizHack has capacity building programs starting from teenagers to Post Graduation in Cybersecurity. WhizHack security software aims to serve the global market in predicting and mitigating zero day attacks.

Phishing pages and Malicious Applications

CyberPeace Foundation and Autobot Infosec Private Limited along with the academic partners under CyberPeace Center of Excellence (CCoE) recently conducted five different studies on phishing campaigns that have been circulating on the internet by using misleading tactics to convince users to install malicious applications on their devices. The first campaign impersonates the Income Tax Department, while the rest of the campaigns impersonate ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, IDFC Bank and Axis bank respectively. The phishing campaigns aim to trick users into divulging their personal and financial information.

After a detailed study, the research team found that

• All campaigns appear to be an offer from reputed entities, however hosted on third-party domains instead of the official website of the Income Tax Department or the respective Banks, raising suspicion.

• The applications ask several access permissions of the device. Moreover some of them seek users to provide full control of the device. Allowing such access permission could result in a complete compromise of the system, including access to sensitive information such as microphone recordings, camera footage, text messages, contacts, pictures, videos, and even banking applications.

• Cybercriminals created malicious applications using icons that closely resemble those of legitimate entities with the intention of enticing users into downloading the malicious applications.

• The applications collect user's personal and banking information. Getting into this type of trap could lead users to face significant financial losses.

• While investigating the impersonated Income Tax Department’s application, the Research team identified the application sends http traffic to a remote server which acts as a Command and Control (CnC/C2) for the application.

• Customers who desire to avail benefits or refunds from respective banks, download relevant apps, believing that the chosen app will assist them. However, they are not always aware that the app may be fraudulent.

“The Research highlights the importance of being vigilant while browsing the internet and not falling prey to such phishing attacks. It is crucial to be cautious when clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown sources, as they may contain malware that can harm the device or compromise the data,” spokesperson, CyberPeace added.

In addition to this in an earlier report released in last month, the same research team had drawn attention to the WhatsApp messages masquerading as an offer from Tanishq Jewellers with links luring unsuspecting users with the promise of free valentine’s day presents making the rounds on the app.

CyberPeace Advisory

• The Research team recommends that people should avoid opening such messages sent via social platforms. One must always think before clicking on such links, or downloading any attachments from unauthorised sources.

• Downloading any application from any third party sources instead of the official app store should be avoided. This will greatly reduce the risk of downloading a malicious app, as official app stores have strict guidelines for app developers and review each app before it gets published on the store.

• Even if you download the application from an authorised source, check the app's permissions before you install it. Some malicious apps may request access to sensitive information or resources on your device. If an app is asking for too many permissions, it's best to avoid it.

• Keep your device and the app-store app up to date. This will ensure that you have the latest security updates and bug fixes.

• Falling into such a trap could result in a complete compromise of the system, including access to sensitive information such as microphone recordings, camera footage, text messages, contacts, pictures, videos, and even banking applications and could lead users to financial loss.

• Do not share confidential details like credentials, banking information with such types of Phishing scams.

• Never share or forward fake messages containing links on any social platform without proper verification.

In line with its commitment to create safe spaces for women and girls online, the Commission, along with partners has launched the fourth phase of Digital Shakti post successful completion of the three phases in the past. The campaign is focused on making women digitally skilled and aware to stand up against any cyber harms - illegal/inappropriate activity online.

The launch was graced by Smt Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, NCW, Lt Gen BS Raju, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS); Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation; Shri Rajiv Aggarwal, Director and Head of Public Policy, Meta India (previously Facebook), graced the occasion.

Dignitaries releasing of the Compendium and Digital Shakti Booklet

Lt Gen BS Raju, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) addressing the audience said, “Today India is the second largest user of the internet, and the third largest country which gets cyberbullied, and stats show that 98% are women. we are scaling this to the fourth phase with an exponential path to go. e will take this opportunity to awareness more and more women. I am happy that AWWA, NWWA and AFWWA are constantly striving to follow these policies by CPF, Meta and NCW towards awareness for women about safe cyberspace because that's how our families will also be safe.”

While addressing the audience Smt. Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, NCW mentioned the continuous efforts of the Commission for empowering women in every sphere across the nation. She said, “This new phase will prove to be a milestone in ensuring safe cyber spaces for women. Digital Shakti has been accelerating the digital participation of women and girls by training them to use technology to their advantage and to keep themselves safe online. I believe the project will continue to contribute towards the larger goal of fighting Cyber violence against women and girls and make internet a safer space for them.”

Shri Rajiv Aggarwal highlighted Meta's efforts towards enabling safe online experience for women,"It has always been our endeavor to create an online experience for women which is not only enabling but is also safe. Digital Shakti has been an enabler for more than 3 lakh women and with the launch of phase 4, we aim to sensitize more than 1 million women across India on how to be safe online so as to derive the best experience and opportunities that digital platforms have to offer.”

Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation mentioned, "Given the accelerated digital adoption and cyber harms against vulnerable populations, government and fraternity members are working aggressively towards empowering and upskilling girls and women in cyberspace to protect them. After receiving a tremendously positive response, we are glad to have partnered with NCW, Meta, Autobot Infosec and other collaborators. We look forward to significantly bridging the cybersecurity knowledge gap in India among vulnerable populations and reaching 1 million netizens in the next two years.”

Panel Discussion in progress moderated by Padma Shri Sunitha Krishnan

The launch was followed by an interactive panel discussion on “Safe Spaces Online Combatting Cyber-enabled Human Trafficking & Combatting Other forms of Online Violence” in order to provide keen opinions from experts from the Industry, Government, and Academia to address the issue of online women safety from all tangents and provide whole approach to ensure better women safety online. The discussion was moderated by Padma Shri Sunitha Krishnan, General Secretary, Prajwala and as panelists were - Mr. Ashutosh Pande, Senior Research Officer, NCW, Mr. Pavan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Advisor, CPF, Veerendra Mishra, AIG, SISF, Madhya Pradesh Police and Advisor, NCW, Ms. Preeti Chauhan, Director-Operations, CPF participated in the discussion.

The campaign Digital Shakti started in June 2018 to help women across the nation to raise the awareness level on the digital front, to build resilience, and fight cyber-crime in the most effective ways. Through this project, over 3 Lakhs women across India have been made aware of cyber safety tips and tricks, reporting & redressal mechanisms, data privacy and usage of technology for their benefits.

The third phase of the program started in March 2021 with the Launch at Leh by Hon’ble NCW Chairperson Smt Rekha Sharma in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Shri Radha Krishna Mathur & Jamyang Tsering Namgyal MP Ladakh. In the third phase, a Resource Center was also developed under the project to provide information on all the avenues of reporting in case a woman faces any cyber crime. The Resource Center was launched by Shri Ramesh Bais, Hon’ble Governor of Jharkhand.

The study set out to explore the common misconception that lower digital access in rural areas of the country in comparison to urban areas automatically leads to lower instances of cyber abuse and fraud. The most pertinent flaw of this outlook has been the complete oversight on experiences of women and children with abuse and trafficking in rural India in both journalistic pieces as well as academic research. This is especially significant in the post-pandemic phase which is marked by increasing internet exposure and adoption towards varied activities. Space2Grow and CyberPeace Foundation set out to study the internet usage practices, experiences of common forms of abuse (such as cyber bullying, stalking, phishing, impersonation and identity theft, unwanted exposure to content etc.), response to abuse and other aspects like perception, knowledge and opinions on the topic of cyber safety. The study findings have thrown up the dire need for training, capacity building and programs targeting all key stakeholders to contain the victimization and address the vulnerability faced by women and children online, including and especially in rural areas.

Shri Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson, NCPCR launching the research by CyberPeace Foundation and Space2Grow

Shri Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson, NCPCR while launching the book said, “Children today are extremely vulnerable in cyberspace, especially while using social media. It is important for parents, teachers, and for the society at large to give thought to the safety of children in cyberspace as this can be achieved only when we work together. This study by Space2Grow in collaboration with CyberPeace Foundation points to these dangers. This report has come at a time when children are increasingly using the internet and are therefore highly vulnerable. This report should hence be treated as a wakeup call and as stakeholders, we need to work with a sense of urgency towards having conversations with and keeping an eye on children’s online activities.”

Talking about the research report, Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation said, “Internet usership in rural India is growing on a year on year basis and hence requires rural-area specific prevention strategy to tackle abuse. CyberPeace Foundation has found that it is a fairly organized crime and indicates the use of cyberspace and different online platforms as a medium of trafficking to target vulnerable population. The report provides a recommendation to creating and capacity building of FIRST RESPONDER, Peer groups, community and stakeholders to protect the vulnerable population from Cyber harms and quick redressal of the problem." He also mentioned about the South Asia CyberPeace Cooperation Council (SAC3), which will bring together nations in the region for a common objective – to fight cyber-enabled human trafficking and online child sexual abuse exploitation (OCSAE).”

Ms Chitra Iyer, Co-founder and CEO, Space2Grow: At Space2Grow our aim was to deep dive into the issue of increasing online abuse that's linked to trafficking. The findings are evident of the fact that no more can vulnerabilities of online abuse be ignored on the pretext of lack of digital access. Instead, it's time for a mass level campaign for protecting children and women at large from online abuse and trafficking.

Some of the key findings of the study are given below:

1. Cyber abuse is agnostic to ownership of devices as it can and does happen via any device and medium.

2. While cyber abuse and fraud are extremely common among women and children in the study areas, awareness on prevention, reporting and redressal is abysmally low.

3. There is a high level of tolerance to cyber abuse in that participants did not consider reporting an incident unless it was considered grave or involved financial fraud. This additionally points to a lack of understanding on the long-term effects of cyber abuse on one’s mental health.

4. Women and children often choose to confide in friends, rather than close family members like a spouse or parents, when faced with an uncomfortable situation online.

5. Teachers in general, despite being key stakeholders in the lives of children, are not aware of or involved in any way with their students’ online activities and they do not have the awareness or knowledge on how to respond to online abuse.

In response to and as a way forward, Space2Grow and CyberPeace Foundation are committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to address the issue of cyber safety of women and children.

The key recommendations based on the study findings are given below.

1. Awareness and capacity building on the topic for all stakeholders

2. To encourage, promote and normalize conversations and discussions on cyber abuse

3. Peer-group trainings and support groups in institutions and community

4. Ensuring reporting of cyber crimes

5. Efficient, convenient and effective reporting mechanisms

6. Transparent and quick redressal processes

7. Counseling services for victims of cyber abuse

8. Collaboration of all stakeholders to address rising cyber crimes

9. Education of caregivers, parents/guardians and teachers

10. Rural-area specific prevention strategy to tackle abuse

11. To popularize helpline numbers

Space2Grow is a social impact consulting firm which plays a pivotal role in collaborating, engaging and co-creating sustainable solutions for complex social problems related to Anti-Human Trafficking, Inclusive Skilling and Livelihoods, Child Protection and Digital Safety.

CyberPeace Foundation is the world’s first non-profit civil society organization and think tank of cyber and policy experts with the vision of pioneering CyberPeace initiatives to build collective resilience against cybercrimes & global threats of cyber warfare.

Austrade Education and Future Skills Initiatives and Australia-India Cybersecurity Hackathon Challenge launched at AIBX 2022 Business Mission event in Bengaluru
 

Austrade’s future skills initiatives will support skilling capacity in India by upskilling India’s workforce through world-class Australian vocational, training and education programs. Austrade will bring a delegation of Australian skills providers to India early 2023, to exchange ideas and partner for success with Indian counterparts.

To support tech collaboration, Austrade has partnered with NASSCOM and 2 universities for the Australia-India Cybersecurity Hackathon Challenge. This program will bring together industry and academia to showcase the cyber credentials of Australian and Indian universities and their students. Students competing in this challenge will tackle real-world challenges, during the hackathon, with the help of industry experts. 

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Xavier Simonet, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australian Government said, “Australian Government Education initiatives are designed to shape the global careers of Indian students. We work closely with the students to assure world-class education, skills to support strong careers pathways and an unmatched lifestyle for students. Since the early 2000s, Australia has become a destination of choice for Indian students pursuing higher education internationally and will continue to have a strong relationship with the students. This year’s AIBX 2022 business mission comes at a time when Australia and India are more strategically and economically aligned and our focus turns to bringing Australian skills and curriculum to be delivered in India through partner institutes.”

Dr. Monica Kennedy, Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner, Australian Trade and Investment Commission also announced several Australia-India partnerships. These announcements were witnessed by Mr. Xavier Simonet, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australian Government.

• The UNISA-Accenture partnership is a 10-year program. UNISA will offer a Bachelor of Digital Business program for which content is provided by Accenture. It also includes opportunity for Accenture scholarships and internships for students.

• Australia’s Griffith University, UpGrad, Insofe and UpGrad Atlas signed a partnership for 3+2 transfer arrangement for UpGrad students to Griffith University for a Master of Information Technology program.

• Curtin University signed a partnership with TEXMiN, the technology innovation hub of the IIT-Indian School of Mines Dhanbad. This partnership will foster development and commercialisation of cyber-physical system based services & products related to exploration and mining. The signing will also see the establishment of a world-class center at the IIT ISM Campus at Dhanbad.

Dr. Kennedy also launched Study Australia’s “India Student Hub (Digital Education Hub) toolkit” which provides Indian students with access to course search tools, an employability hub and masterclass library to help identify their strengths, scope career options and build their employability skills. Students will also have access to course information to identify the best courses for their careers. The hub elevates ‘Study Australia’ brand positioning through omni-channel campaigns and special projects like the Industry Experience Program, Study Entrepreneurship Challenge, and Study Australia showcase. The site also hosts the ‘partner hub’ which provides up-to-date information to education partners.

About the AIBX 2022 Business Mission

The Australia India Business Exchange mission is a flagship programme of the Australian government to promote trade and investment ties with India. The AIBX 2022 Business Mission will support Australian exporters to capture commercial opportunities in high-growth and future-facing segments of the dynamic Indian economy. 

The mission will be the first Australian Government-sponsored multi-sector trade mission to India since early 2020 and will be an important signal to India of Australia’s commitment to the trade and investment relationship.

Over 100+ Australian business delegates from five priority sectors: agrifood, built environment, critical minerals, digital health and education are in India as a part of the mission.

Images above show Fake WhatsApp Messages (Screenshots)

The Research Wing of CyberPeace Foundation, Autobot Infosec Private Limited along with CyberPeace Center of Excellence (CCoE) have conducted six different studies based on these WhatsApp messages that contained links pretending to be a free subsidy, recharge offer and travel tickets from Indian Railways, Apollo Hospitals, Haldiram, Emirates Airlines, Various Telecom giants and Tata Group which ask users to participate in various offers and survey in order to get a chance to win the prizes.

On the landing page a Congratulations message appears with the attractive photo of the offers and ask users to participate in a quick survey or questionnaires in order to avail the said offers. All the links showcase the respective logos of the said entities and ask users to take the survey to win recharges and subsidies.

Also at the bottom of the page a section comes up which seems to be a comment section where many users have commented about how the offers are beneficial.

All the surveys start with some basic questions like Do you know the above mentioned companies? How old are you? What do you think of Emirates Airlines or Haldiram’s? Are you male or female? etc.

Once the user answers the questions a “congratulatory message” is displayed. After Clicking the OK button users are given three attempts to win the prizes.

After completing all the attempts it says that the user has won the respective offers.

Image 2: Fake congratulatory messages

Clicking on the ‘OK’ button, it instructs users to share the campaign on WhatsApp. Strangely enough the user has to keep clicking the Whatsapp button until the progress bar completes. After clicking on the green ‘WhatsApp’ button it shows a section where a “Congratulations” appears once again.

During the analysis the research team found a JavaScript code called hm.js was being executed in the background from the host hm[.]baidu[.]com which is a subdomain of Baidu and is used for Baidu Analytics, also known as Baidu Tongji. The important part is that Baidu is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services, products and artificial intelligence, headquartered in China.

The campaign, pretending an offer from TATA, insists users to download an application from a third party app store.

To read the detailed reports, visit www.cyberpeace.org/publications

The detailed study helped CyberPeace and AutoBot Infosec Pvt Ltd to come to the following conclusions:

• The whole research activity was performed in a secured sandbox environment where the WhatsApp application was not installed. If any user opens the link from a device like smartphones where WhatsApp application is installed, the sharing features on the site will open the WhatsApp application on the device to share the link.

• The campaign collects browser and system information from the users.

• Most of the domain names associated with the campaign have the registrant country as China whereas the campaign that offers free 30GB of internet data has the registrant country as Pakistan.

• Cybercriminals used Cloudflare technologies to mask the real IP addresses of the front end domain names used in the campaigns. But during the phases of investigation, the research team has identified a domain name that was requested in the background and has been traced as belonging to China.

CCM refers to the use of automated tools and technologies to continuously test and monitor the effectiveness of security controls in line with compliance standards (like NIST, ISO 27001, and others). This improves the compliance posture and reduces audit costs. As a result of this integration, customers will have access to near real-time cloud security control tests that identify issues requiring attention, providing Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) the visibility required to respond to vulnerabilities proactively.

AWS Security Hub performs security best practice checks, aggregates alerts, and enables automated remediation. Combined with MetricStream’s always-on CCM, CISOs can ensure ongoing compliance of cloud assets to standards, with minimal user intervention.

“Speed and visibility are critical to proactively fending off cyber-attacks,” said Prasad Sabbineni, Co-CEO, MetricStream. “Organizations are looking to innovate quickly on the cloud and risk-based security is more critical than ever before. With real-time, actionable insights and analysis, customers can strengthen their cyber security controls and take an aggressive stance against risks.”

AWS customers can purchase the full breadth of MetricStream's GRC solutions in AWS Marketplace. To learn more about MetricStream and its product offerings, visit www.metricstream.com. 

About MetricStream, Inc.
MetricStream is the global market leader of Integrated Risk Management and GRC solutions that empower organizations to thrive on risk by accelerating growth via risk-aware decisions. We connect governance, risk management and compliance across the extended enterprise to enable resilience and digital transformation. MetricStream is headquartered in San Jose, California, with an operations and R&D center in Bangalore, India, and sales and operations support around the globe. 

Join us on November 8 and 9 in London for our 10th GRC Summit - Experience the Power of Connection.

GET SET HACK by RISE: Secure the World with Cryptography, a first-of-its-kind Hackathon in partnership with the ThriveDX, and ‘Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education,’ AP Government, marks a massive success with more than 22 thousand participants. The top 100 winners bagged an exciting prize pool consisting placement opportunities, internship opportunities and multiple paid scholarships, and were felicitated by Mr. Sagi Itcher, Head of Economic and Trade Mission of Israel, and Roy Zur, CEO of ThriveDX SaaS.
 

GET SET HACK by RISE
 

Delhi-based Sarthak Jain, a 4th-year B.Tech student pursuing Computer Science from GGSIPU bagged the first prize, followed by Kolkata-based 4th year CS Student from IIEST, Shibpur, Arnab Sen who came in second. Additionally, Manish Kumar, Vaibhavi Paliya and Deepanshu Arya rounded up as the top five winners. The top five winners of the GET SET HACK by RISE were awarded 100% placement offers along with full scholarships on the Cybersecurity Bootcamp PG Course by RISE. The recruitments are powered by some of the biggest names in the corporate world including Ziroh Labs, Riskpro, Grant Thornton, Digisailor, Elliot Systems, Cryptowire, Allied Digital, Buddi AI, Analyttica and Taylor & Francis Group, among others.

Highlighting the importance of cyber-security in today’s day and age Mr. Sagi Itcher, Head of Economic and Trade Mission of Israel commented, “As per our estimate, over 1 million cyber security experts are needed in the Indian market currently, and this gap is struggling to find a way to bridge itself. This shows how vulnerable the digital ecosystem is in the country. And that’s why I believe the effort companies like ThriveDX and RISE are putting in is so important as they can take people with basically zero knowledge in cyber security and bring them up to the level of an expert with their dedicated and tailor-made training programs.” 

Adding to Mr. Sagi’s statement and addressing the need to bridge the demand and skill gap in the field for better protection and online safety, Mr. Roy Zur, CEO of ThriveDX stated, “It’s great to see talented people come together to tackle one of the biggest challenges on earth using cyber-security techniques. It is a field with a huge skill gap and in high demand in both the Indian and international markets and therefore it is a great career path to choose. At its core, the central objective of cyber security is to protect your country, government or organization from bad elements. Therefore, cyber security as a field is a lot about protecting the good against the bad.”

Addressing the ongoing success of the Hackathon, Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, CEO at RISE states, “India alone is expected to create around 3.5 Mn job vacancies in the cyber-security space by 2025 and the current talent shortage with skills such as Application Development Security, Cloud Security Risk Management, Threat Intelligence, Data Privacy and Security, stands at 43 per cent. These are the reasons why we organized the Hackathon to create awareness about cyber-security as a lucrative career option. We are overwhelmed with the response that we got with over 22 thousand participants, making GET SET HACK by RISE one of the biggest of its kind hackathons in India. We thank all our partners who have made this a massive success.”

The response to ‘GET SET HACK by RISE’ hackathon has been overwhelming on all fronts, at all levels. In addition to record-breaking participation and tremendous student response, the event has been able to successfully drive awareness about Cybersecurity as a lucrative career option among the younger generation.

In addition to the top 5 rankers who received direct placement opportunities; 6-25 rank holders received interview opportunities along with a 50% paid scholarship; 26-50 rank winners also got internship opportunities along with a 50% paid scholarship, while the next 51-100 rank holders got awarded with a 35% paid scholarship on the course.

About RISE

Founded in April 2021, RISE’s mission is to encourage and empower students across cities, strata, and societies to be socially and culturally aware leaders of the world. The startup offers PG Programs in Business Analytics, Data Science, AIML, Cybersecurity, FinTech, Finance & Accounting, and Marketing Research in collaboration with KPMG in India, Grant Thornton, ThriveDX SaaS and Aeon Research. RISE also offers a course in Public Policy with Analytics, and a Global MBA in collaboration with SRH Mobile University (Germany). Besides, and more significantly, RISE also provides scholarships for ‘Women in Tech’ and discounted courses for the underprivileged. Each course is affordable and, crucially, is curated and taught by industry experts, thus increasing the chances of employability.

Secure your digital data with Raghnall’s Individual Cyber Insurance
 

Established in 2014 by Mr. Amit Goel and Mr. Yagnesh Doshi, Raghnall has emerged as India’s trusted insurance broking and risk advisory company. Headquartered in Mumbai, the organisation efficiently caters to the corporate insurance requirements of large commercial businesses, MSMEs, and start-ups, as well as personal insurance needs of individual clients. They also have branches in other cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Nagpur, and Bengaluru. By working closely with reputed insurance, reinsurance, and technology partners, Raghnall aims to provide nothing but exceptional risk management solutions to their diverse clientele.

Raghnall has always put their clients’ needs at the forefront by consistently keeping abreast of their needs and conducting extensive research about all the latest risks that they can be vulnerable to. Acutely cognisant of the fact that cyber risks are a major threat in today’s digital era, looming large over the head of any and every individual who uses the Internet, the prominent insurance broker felt compelled to address the dire need of the hour - which is to provide an effective safety shield against the dark side of the web. That’s why Raghnall is thrilled to introduce their brand new ‘Individual Cyber Insurance’ on the 22nd of August, 2022 - a first-of-its-kind integrated platform in India that will safeguard you from all the potential damages of cyber threats with utmost finesse!

Naturally, some people might think it is not necessary to invest in a personal cyber insurance, but they need to know that cyber attackers don’t give warnings in advance before they invade your digital space! While there are some basic things that can somewhat reduce your vulnerability to such attacks - such as keeping your systems and softwares updated, installing firewalls, setting different passwords for different accounts, etc. - they cannot eliminate the risks completely. Perhaps, knowing a little better about some cyber-attacks that can rob your entire life savings in no time, can help you comprehend the necessity of a personal cyber insurance policy:

• Malware - Malware comprises a range of malicious softwares like ransomware, spyware, viruses, worms, etc., which gets installed and activated when you unknowingly click on a dangerous link or attachment. Malware attacks can block your access to key network components, steal your data from the hard drive, install more hazardous softwares, and even make your system inoperable.

• Phishing attacks - Phishing scams or attacks involve fake communication in the form of a legitimate looking email or message that requests for your sensitive personal information, like password, credit card number, PIN, etc. If you click on the links in such emails or messages and provide them with these details, you can inadvertently end up losing your hard-earned finances!

• Online Harassment - The leakage of your personal photos, videos, chats, browser history and more to a random cyber-criminal indulging in nefarious activities on the web can have disastrous consequences for you. Online harassment through cyber stalking can not only cause you financial losses but also severely affect your mental health due to the blatant invasion of privacy.

These are just a few of the dozens of cyber threats waiting to make the Internet a virtual hell for you! But there’s no need to worry, as Raghnall’s Cyber Insurance is proud to be India’s first one-of-its-kind integrated platform which empowers users for assessing personal data theft or breaches, and also for buying insurance - a unique one-stop solution that no other insurer in the country is offering yet. To safeguard your finances from the perils of cyber-attacks, Raghnall curates the finest personal cyber insurance in the market from top companies like ICICI Lombard, HDFC Ergo, SBI General, and Bajaj Allianz. On this platform, customers can get independent product rating, review, and comparison, allowing them to select the right insurance plan that perfectly suits their distinct budget and requirements - whether they are homemakers, teenagers, or working professionals.

Another coveted feature that customers can avail themselves of with Raghnall’s integrated Individual Cyber Insurance is their ‘Cyber Theft Scanner’ tool. These days, it is a common phenomenon for most of us to store our personal documents like PAN card, Aadhaar card, etc. on our phones and other devices or on cloud storage. However, this simple matter of convenience can also significantly heighten a person’s risk of becoming a victim of multiple cyber-attacks. But fortunately, the Cyber Theft Scanner tool can let you rest easy by enabling you to check if your data is breached or stolen!

“At Raghnall, we understand that the risks posed by cyber-attacks to a person and their subsequent results can be unimaginable. Although these attacks can be unavoidable in most cases, we can certainly be prepared to face them head on by being insured with an appropriate Cyber Insurance policy. However, choosing the apt policy on your own from the different options available from the market can get confusing and overwhelming. That’s why, Raghnall aims to simplify this process by bringing to you only the best personal cyber insurance options online. Thanks to our new integrated ‘Individual Cyber Insurance,’ all you have to do now is assess your risk, explore the products, check the premium and buy your preferred policy on Raghnall’s website - to avail instant and optimal coverage against various cyber threats,” says Mr. Amit Goel - Principal Officer & Director, and Mr. Yagnesh Doshi - Director of Raghnall Insurance.

Have a look at some of the major coverages under Raghnall’s ‘Individual Cyber Insurance’ to know why it’s absolutely essential for you to have this insurance:

1. Theft of funds - It offers coverage for money robbed from bank accounts, credit or debit cards, digital wallets, etc. due to phishing attacks or spoofing as well as unauthorised access of personal data and losses arising due to fraudulent ATM withdrawals.

2. Online shopping - It covers the loss of money that you may have spent while shopping online from a fraudulent website, as such websites may showcase a product and deliver something else in its place, or even nothing for that matter!

3. Cyber bullying - It covers the cost of removing objectionable content posted by cyber bullies along with legal costs and psychological consultation costs for the victim of cyberbullying.

4. Identity theft - It covers financial losses, credit monitoring costs, and legal costs resulting from the misuse of your information on the Internet by an unknown third party.

5. Social media liability - It protects you from third party claims that may result due to any privacy breach or copyright infringement from your social media posts.

6. Data restoration from malware contamination - It ensures indemnity for recovering the data lost after a malware attack on your devices.

7. Cyber extortion - It covers the financial losses that the insured individual may have to incur to pay as ransom for the resolution of the cyber extortion situation.

8. Electronic devices’ protection - Raghnall’s ‘Individual Cyber Insurance’ provides comprehensive coverage for the protection of sensitive data stored in your personal electronic devices, as well as for any theft or loss of money occurring due to cyber-attacks on these devices.

In addition to ‘Individual Cyber Insurance’, Raghnall is all set to come up with an Integrated Cyber Risk Insurance platform for MSMEs and small corporates too, which can help these businesses accurately assess, protect, and prevent cyber risks. So, for availing superior insurance and risk management solutions in both the B2B as well as B2C segment - be rest assured that there's no better choice of broker for all than Raghnall!

To promote the initiatives of the State Government and establish a close and continuing interaction for exploring areas of mutual cooperation in the field of CyberPeace, CyberSecurity Research, Capacity Building, Policy and Advocacy along with other facilities. CyberPeace Council, Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and Ranchi University have entered into a strategic collaboration to work together for addressing the Global skill shortage of 3.5 million CyberSecurity experts. The partnership will work towards the state wide shortage of cyber experts by training students through Diploma courses in CyberSecurity.

The CyberPeace Global President, Major Vineet Kumar, IETE Ranchi Ex-Chairperson Shree KK Thakur and Ranchi University the then Vice Chancellor Dr. (Mrs.) Kamini Kumar had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on May 19th 2022. This MoU will help set up The CyberPeace Center of Excellence, an initiative of CyberPeace at Ranchi University.

Honorable Governor of Jharkhand, Shree Ramesh Bais lighting the lamp with other dignitaries at the launch of RU-IETE-CyberPeace Centre of Excellence (CoE)

On the International Youth Day, the Center of Excellence and Interdisciplinary Post Graduate Diploma in CyberSecurity course was inaugurated by His Excellency Shree Ramesh Bais, Honorable Governor cum Chancellor of Universities of Jharkhand. The occasion was graced by Dr. Ajit Kumar Sinha, Honorable Vice Chancellor, Ranchi University, Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace and Shree Niranjan Prasad, Chairman, IETE New Delhi.

While IETE and CyberPeace Council will be responsible to provide technical guidance to the programme, Ranchi University shall be responsible for infrastructure support including faculty support and developing a research lab for the cause.

The collaboration will encourage research in the field of CyberPeace, CyberSecurity, Cyber Defense and Internet Engineering and Governance. With lack of skilled manpower in the area of CyberSecurity defense, the collaboration aims to start new forces in concerned areas and introduce technical training to enhance skills in the said domain.

The Center of Excellence will also promote Research and Development (R&D), Cyber security entrepreneurship, innovation, design and develop indigenous software to help maintain cyber security, cyber peace and Internet standards.

The collaboration will also encourage workshops, awareness programs and internship opportunities for the students, cyber security skill development, research and development for both students and faculties.

Major Vineet Kumar felicitating the Honorable Governor of Jharkhand, Shree Ramesh Bais

While inaugurating the Center of Excellence, Honorable Governor of Jharkhand, Shree Ramesh Bais said, “When hacking can be done from Jamtara, Jharkhand, then why can't efforts be made to stop it in the university located in Ranchi. I appreciate the efforts being taken by the Ranchi University and CyberPeace Foundation for the all round development of youths of the state. It gives me immense pleasure to see individuals like Major Vineet Kumar, who fights all the odds and shines like a star across the world.”

The Vice Chancellor of Ranchi University, Prof. (Dr.) Ajit Kumar Sinha, while giving the welcome address, congratulated the Governor for granting permission to start new courses. The Vice Chancellor also introduced the expansion of Ranchi University in his speech, he told how the university was started with 10 PG courses and today about 30 PGs are operated, apart from this, at present there are about 165000 students studying in Ranchi University. Giving information, he said that he is trying to take Ranchi University further with the efforts of all and get a higher position in the UGC ranking.

Talking about the collaboration, Major Vineet Kumar, Founder & Global President, CyberPeace said, “This is like a dream come true to establish Jharkhand as a Cybersecurity hub. Jharkhand has always been known as the hot bed of cybercrimes and financial frauds. The Interdisciplinary Post-Graduate Diploma Course on CyberSecurity and the CyberPeace Center of Excellence (CoE) will help Jharkhand become a “State of the Art” hub for CyberPeace and CyberSecurity.”

Giving information on behalf of IETE, Niranjan Prasad said that our institute is currently working in about 114 countries and we have tried to take an initiative regarding cyber security in Jharkhand also, under this we have signed MoU with Ranchi University and CyberPeace. We have started a diploma course, through which we will not only make the students aware about cyber security, apart from going to rural areas, we will also share information about cyber security so that awareness about cyber security spreads among the common people.

As the next steps, a Joint Committee, a Joint Expert Group and an Advisory Council will be formed for the overall administrative, academic, monitoring and review of the programme.

Founded in 2018, C3M developed a cloud security management software that has been used by global enterprises across financial services, insurance, e-commerce and retail adopting cloud-centric business and technology transformations. The company has offices in India and the United States, with its R&D team based out of India.

Karthik Gopalakrishnan, Partner, Lead Advisory at Grant Thornton Bharat who led the transaction said, “With the aggressive adoption of cloud services, businesses require specialist solutions to manage their security posture across multiple cloud environments, and to have granular visibility into identity and access-related activities in the cloud. C3M has built best-in-class technology to address these needs. The acquisition by CyberArk, the world’s largest Identity Security company, was a natural fit.”

Sumeet Abrol, Partner and Head, Lead Advisory at Grant Thornton Bharat said, “The transaction strongly validates global interest in acquiring product capabilities in cyber focused technology platforms. With successive deals across the technology stack in the past 12 months, this further reinforces Grant Thornton’s position as the advisor of choice for unlocking value in this sector.”

Padmanabhan Viswanathan, Founder and former CEO of C3M, and current VP of Cloud Security at CyberArk, said, “All of us from C3M are thrilled about this acquisition. Our mission was to simplify cloud security for enterprises and staying true to that mission enabled us to build a successful global business, helping industry leading security-focused companies manage their cloud security risk and improve their compliance posture. With cloud-related breaches at an all-time high and privileged access being a major cause of concern for enterprises, we see huge possibilities and innovation happening in the Identity Security space. We are happy to be a part of CyberArk’s vision for the future of cloud security - with identity at the core.”

“The acquisition of C3M will further strengthen CyberArk’s existing Cloud Privilege Security offerings with capabilities for identifying security and compliance risks in cloud IAM policies, cloud activity monitoring and threat detection while helping solve visibility and security challenges in public cloud environments,” said Clarence Hinton, Chief Strategy Officer, Head of Corporate Development, CyberArk. “We are thrilled to bring on-board the C3M team who will add talent and experience to CyberArk's R&D and product teams, further accelerating our development and innovation.” 

Grant Thornton Bharat was recently conferred with two global M&A awards: ‘M&A Firm of the year Award (mid-market category)’ and ‘Cross border deal of the year’ at the recent M&A Atlas Awards 2021. As one of India’s leading transaction advisors, this recognition has further strengthened the efforts of the firm towards shaping a vibrant India and creating gold standards in consulting and advisory.

Rakesh Asthana, Commissioner of Police, Delhi at the CallItOut wall

Unveiling the #CallItOut wall at the Civil Lines Police Station, Rakesh Asthana, Commissioner of Delhi Police lauded the efforts and impact of the #ItsNotOk campaign and cited the law enforcement’s commitment to creating a sense of safety to empower women to call out harassment. Developed by the Delhi Street Art, the mural art signifies stories of brave women who have taken action against harassment and the support of law enforcement towards ensuring safety in both the physical and the more complex world of digital communications. The artwork will further engage citizens across the city as it will be carried and displayed on the rear windscreens of the Delhi Police Emergency Helpline Vehicles.

Following this, the Run to EmpowHER saw elaborate participation from citizens, policymakers, law enforcement and influencers who came together to express their support for the cause and run on a route designed in the shape of ‘ITS NOT OK’. The run was symbolic of women reclaiming their right to safety in everyday life with the support of Delhi Police personnel and fellow men running by their side highlighting the need for collective action and responsibility towards putting an end to harassment. The energy and enthusiasm of the run continued as runners shared updates from the event, their personal stories and their commitment to safety for women across social media platforms spreading more awareness and enlightening the masses.

Speaking at the flag-off of #ItsNotOK Run to EmpowHER, Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change said, “India is rising as a global power, however the realisation of this power would not be truly complete if women continue to be discriminated against or be subjected to harassment. It is important to realise that we just can’t leave the burden of speaking out and fighting harassment and discrimination in all spheres of life purely on women. Men have to engage as allies in fighting harassment as a basic responsibility of a human being. There has to be an enabling environment for women to be able to freely live, work and just be themselves as humans. The realisation of that enabling environment is everyone’s responsibility. The onus of fighting this battle is on each one of us as responsible citizens and not just women facing harassment alone.”

Mandira Bedi, Bollywood Actress who also joined the Run to EmpowHER on Sunday, said, “Every woman has faced harassment of some form in their life. While we have been told to silently endure, ignore or block such incidents, it is important to call it out. There are many ways to call out harassment. There are apps like Truecaller that tell you the number of the person who is calling. My message to women is that they should call out harassment because it's not okay.”

Commenting on the culmination, Ms. Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs, Truecaller, India said, “We are emboldened with the massive support of citizens through their participation in the #ItsNotOk campaign and helping us strengthen our fight against harassment of women. Our goal has always been to bolster the conversation to #CallItOut and create awareness by driving action on the ground. We are confident that the efforts of the initiative will be amplified with these events and will continue to encourage every citizen who will come in contact and engage with the artwork on the #CallItOutWall or the Delhi Police Vehicles. We are grateful to the Delhi Police for championing this fight and partnering with us to ensure that the culmination is a continuation of our resolve for the safety of women in physical and digital communications.”

Sidharth Saini, SVP & Head - Marketing, Content & Operations at Network18 Studio said, “We are really happy and encouraged by the support that this campaign has received from stakeholders in the society, be it policy makers, police, legal authorities, academicians or celebrities. Delighted to have been partners with Truecaller on a purpose-driven campaign that is making conversations happen on real issues.”

Sagar Preet Hooda, IPS and Special Commissioner of Police (Law & Order), Delhi Police, who also joined the Run to EmpowHER said, “This fight against harassment of women is of all of us as a society. The mural art on the wall of the civil lines police station is a testament to the Delhi Police's dedication and spirit to fight against this menace. It’s not okay to be silent. In India, our women also face harassment within domestic spaces, not only in public areas. We encourage women to report such cases of harassment. We have created helplines 112 and 181 that help women in immediate emergency situations.”

A woman runner who was on a holiday in Mumbai decided to participate in the EmpowHER run in her own city, said that she ran to instill the right values in her son, and not get self defence classes for her daughter in future. Her support for the campaign shows how the initiative has turned into a people’s movement over its journey.

The campaign has seen an overall digital reach of 1.65 billion and received support from policymakers such as Smriti Irani, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, K Chandrashekhar Rao, Bhupender Yadav, Naveen Patnaik, K.T. Rama Rao, K. Kavitha; law enforcement authorities like KPS Malhotra, Usha Rangnani, and Shalini Singh; social activists like Ranjana Kumari, Rajni Abbi; actresses Raveena Tandon, Aditi Rao Hydari, Mandira Bedi and Huma Qureshi; as well as Indian badminton stars PV Sindhu, and Jwala Gutta; Social media influencers Anupriya Kapur and Satshya Tharein, through its journey.

The ‘Responsible Digital Citizenship and Online Safety’ report by Wranga, an Indian start-up focused on cyber safety for kids, with the support of Disney Star India, one of the biggest media conglomerates, was released today.

The aim of the report was to assess the proficiency of young online users with the safety tools at their disposal, and identify their preferred mode of learning. Among the many conclusions drawn was that 84% of users have come across fake news online.

Wranga leaned on the support of Disney Star India to bring out the study, undertaken to understand - and contribute to - the domain of digital education for creative expression, learning and participation of students as responsible digital citizens, and to ensure their digital wellbeing.

The survey is one of the main elements in the first phase of this programme, alongside workshops, training, focus-group discussions and design of curricula.

Conducted among school students, the report found that the greatest threat girls and boys face in the online space is inappropriate sharing of images. Students also revealed that although topics like cyberbullying and misinformation are touched upon in the classroom, more must be done to have a real-life impact. “Topics were taught but not enforced in any way. So they didn’t have any real-world impact,” the report mentions.

Interestingly, the respondents listed specific topics they would like to deep-dive into through their school curriculum, including Legal Protection, Internet Privacy and Cyber Wellness. Significantly, 70% of respondents were worried about their online privacy and safety - besides improper use of photos, they also raised concerns over setting up of fake profiles or misrepresenting profiles, taking screenshots without permission and circulating, stumbling upon inappropriate visual and textual content, and unwanted approaches in chat rooms, on social-networking sites or on email.

On the positive side, however, an overwhelming 80%-90% of students believed that the Internet has helped broaden their horizons, and prefer to use the worldwide web for learning new subjects and for creative expression.

This initiative is a step towards building a secure digital space for India’s youth. It also highlighted apprehensions that users have while reflecting on the measures that need to be taken to enhance their online experiences, and identifying the resources required to build capacities that can guarantee safe digital surfing.

Wranga collaborated with various stakeholders such as teachers, parents, institutions, the Government and its agencies NGOs/SOs, online platforms and legal and cyber security experts for a comprehensive consultation. The survey was carried out amongst children of school-going age in India, from January to April 2022. Altogether, 842 responses of students from grade-9 to grade-12 were documented and analysed.

According to Amitabh Kumar, CEO, Wranga, “I feel that this report, compiled with the invaluable co-operation of Disney Star India, can be the start to a conversation we must all be having. Because our children are spending a lot of their time online, it is imperative that we understand the particular challenges and threats they face, and that we resolve to make the digital world as safe as possible for them.”

In the words of Mihir Rale, Chief General Counsel, Disney Star India, “This study is an important contribution to the discussion on digital safety, knowing that a lot of our lives are being spent online. It is even more urgent that steps are taken to address the problems and risks associated with the digital ecosystem, more so when these affect our children. I think the report will go a long way towards strengthening online security.”

Present at the launch of the report was chief guest Smt. Annapurna Devi, Hon'ble Minister of State for Education, Government of India, who gave a special address stating, “The National Education Policy, under the guidance of Hon’ble Shri Narendra Modi Ji, has been created by honorary literates and equips the Indian youth and masses with Ed-tech. Wranga’s efforts towards digital citizenship and online safety are being reflected in the project report taken up in collaboration with Disney Star, which is truly commendable.”

She further added, “In the present times, the digital presence of students and educational institutes has significantly increased. Thus, educating our youth about the safety and security of utilizing Internet is imperative to make them responsible digital citizens. Along with the teachers, it is also the responsibility of the youth’s guardians to steer them in the right direction. I believe that this project will be beneficial, and congratulate the stakeholders from both Team Disney Star and Wranga for this achievement.”

The release also saw panel discussions on the many aspects of digital citizenship, in which domain experts discussed existing gaps in online safety and shared recommendations on how young adults can become vigilant and accountable for their online actions. 

To promote the State government’s initiatives and establish a close and continuing interaction for exploring areas of mutual co-operation in the field of CyberSecurity Research, capacity building, CyberPeace Foundation and Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) on Wednesday signed an MoU at Thub, Hyderabad in presence of Mr. KT Rama Rao, IT Minister of Telangana to collaborate on Cybersecurity research and cyber skilling activities across the state of Telangana to address the Global skill shortage of 3.5 million Cybersecurity experts.

Major Vineet Kumar, CPF with IT Minister of Telangana, Mr. KT Rama Rao and Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS and Principal Secretary, I&C and IT, Telangana Government

 As per the MoU, the objective of the MoU are organizing CyberSecurity sessions at all TASK colleges, conducting CyberPeace Challenges/Exercises/Hackathon to identify the Cyber Talents, initiate Joint Certification Courses in CyberSecurity, conduct Dialogues and Round table discussions on areas of concern in Emerging Technologies and CyberSecurity Domain, organizing Guest Lecture Series and FDP on Emerging Technologies, CyberSecurity, Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) Security and other upcoming areas. They would also be providing Development of Course Material for Academic institutions and Industry on Emerging Technologies and CyberSecurity, encouraging Capacity Building-CyberPeace Corps initiative for all students and constitute CyberPeaceCoE and CyberPeace Clubs.

Representing TASK and CyberPeace Foundation, Shrikant Sinha, CEO, TASK and Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation, exchanged the MoU in the presence of IT Minister of Telangana, Mr. KT Rama Rao; Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS and Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT), Departments of the Telangana Government,. Also, present at the Event were Shri Krishnamachari Srikkanth, also known as Cheeka, is a former captain of the Indian cricket team and former chairman of the selection committee. 
 
Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation addressing the audience said, “We are extremely happy to collaborate with TASK, Government of Telangana for CyberSecurity research and Cyber skilling initiatives. This in turn would help enable a secure cyber ecosystem and also get CyberSecurity talents to bridge the Global skill gap in the CyberSecurity space.”
 
The MoU shall require CyberPeace Foundation to setup CyberSecurity Center of Excellence, Identification of Cyber Talents; awareness programs and activities;assisting in developing Certifications and content related to Cybersecurity; to help in organizing the various competitions, Cyber Dialogues and roundtables; conduct awareness programs in radio channels and TV in association with TASK Telangana; to facilitate the experts for cyber internship programs; training the volunteers and creation of CyberPeace Corps volunteers in Telangana.
 
About CyberPeace Foundation
CPF is a Global civil society organisation and think tank of cybersecurity and policy experts. CPF is involved in Policy Advocacy, Research and Training related to all aspects of Cyber Peace and Cyber Security. Key areas of CPF work are in Technology / Internet Governance, Policy Review and Advocacy, Capacity and Capability creation and building through partnerships with various government organizations, academic institutions and civil society entities. 

Dignitaries at the #CybersKool Launch
 

#CybersKool will conduct a series of interactive webinars, panel discussions, workshops and competitions focused on information exchange around ethical online practices, cyber rights and duties, and responsible online behaviour. As an inclusive platform for sharing thoughts and opinions in native languages, Koo will run interactive activities for students like slogan writing and quizzes to encourage knowledge-sharing around online safety. Along with students, other relevant stakeholders like parents, guardians and the faculty are expected to participate in the activities. The year-long campaign will conclude with the release of a Digital CyberSafety Manual that will carry learnings from #CybersKool. The manual will be available on Koo and CyberPeace Foundation website for students to download and read.

An independent and responsible platform, Koo has been driving citizen outreach efforts on an ongoing basis along with CERT-In around cyber security. With India being one of the fastest growing internet markets in the world, the need to inform and educate users, especially the youth around cyber hygiene, carries tremendous significance.
 

Students virtually attending the #CybersKool session
 

Spokesperson Koo said, “At Koo, in our effort to drive freedom of expression on social media in native languages, promoting safe and responsible user behaviour is a priority for us. #CybersKool initiative together with CERT-In and the CyberPeace Foundation is another step in that direction.”

Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation said, “Students are active internet users and hence, one of the most vulnerable ones as well. #CybersKool - in partnership with platforms like Koo and CERTIn becomes necessary to educate the youth and relevant stakeholders about secure online practices. We are grateful for the association and look forward to a successful campaign ahead.”

Director General, CERT-In, Dr. Sanjay Bahl said, “CyberSecurity Awareness on latest malicious cyber activities is a key element for Internet users and citizens to protect themselves from such activities. CERT-In, KooApp and CyberPeace Foundation are jointly organizing a yearlong cyber security awareness campaign "CybersKool" and launched it on 6th July 2022 as part of 'Cyber Jagrookta Diwas'. The objective of this program is to sensitize the Internet users especially college level students and school children on safety & security tips for protecting themselves from cyber-attacks, frauds and crimes. Along with CERT-In, KooApp, the Indian Micro-blogging and multi-language platform is actively working on creating cyber security awareness among Indian citizens in their local language. CERT-In sincerely hopes that this campaign will help the Internet users to understand that the technology used for empowering them to foster creativity and innovation must be used in a responsible, trusted and secure manner.”
 

About Koo

Koo, a multi-lingual, micro-blogging platform was launched in March 2020. The objective was to enable users across the World to express themselves online in their mother tongue. An innovator of language-based micro-blogging, currently Koo is available in 10 languages - Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Bengali and English. The platform’s unique features include a translation feature which enables real-time translation of a post across the slew of languages, while retaining the sentiment and context of the original text. This enhances reach and garners greater traction for a user. The app has over 30 million downloads and is actively leveraged by over 7,000 people of eminence across politics, sports, media, entertainment, spirituality, and art & culture to connect with their followers in multiple languages.

About CyberPeace Foundation

CyberPeace Foundation (CPF) is an award-winning civil society organization, think tank of cyber security and policy experts with the vision of pioneering CyberPeace Initiatives to build collective resiliency against cybercrimes & global threats of cyber warfare. CyberPeace Foundation is involved in Policy Advocacy, Research and Training related to all aspects of CyberPeace and CyberSecurity. Key areas of CyberPeace Foundation work are in Technology Governance, Policy Review and Advocacy, Capacity and Capability creation and building through partnerships with various government organizations, academic institutions and civil society entities.

Ms. Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs at Truecaller India with other important dignitaries from Cyber Peace Foundation, BMS College at the TrueCyberSafe training in Bengaluru
 

The campaign has already reached close to 3 lakh Indians so far through impactful training sessions in the North Eastern Region and New Delhi. Through these awareness sessions, the attendees learn about the recent cyber scams and frauds, safety measures that people can take and the reporting mechanisms available within Truecaller and otherwise that allow for relevant authorities like the Police to take action. 

Gracing the event by her presence, Ms. Pramila Naidu, Chairperson-State Commission for Women and Chairman-Rajya Mahila Ayoga, Karnataka said, “The Commission’s primary responsibility is to safeguard the rights of women and proactively work to improve the safety and security of women in Karnataka. Traditionally, we had mostly been dealing with cases of physical abuse, like domestic violence and acid attack. However, recently we have seen that cases of digital fraud and online harassment are also increasing. While there have been numerous benefits of increased access to smartphones and technology for women, it has also exposed them to both new and old harms in the digital space. However, my message here would be to reinforce that the Commission is prepared and we are here to create awareness and provide support and protection to women. I am thankful that Truecaller and CPF have taken this initiative to build capacity on this issue, and I am sure that it will help everyone who joins the #TrueCyberSafe campaign to access and interact with digital spaces in a safe and secure manner.”

The technical interactive training session at BMS College and R.V. College of Engineering focused on the different types of threats and frauds in the digital world and ended with equipping attendees with best practices, tools and skills needed to protect themselves from harm. Numerous safety features within Truecaller like auto block, spam tagging, one-click national helpline, smart SMS and much more were spotlighted as well. At the end of the session, the participants were encouraged to become active contributors to #TrueCyberSafe by sharing the knowledge with their friends and family, ensuring that more and more people can help make digital communication safe. 

Mr. BS Angadi, KSPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime 2, Bengaluru, said, “As the state with the tech capital of India, Karnataka has the highest recorded cyber crime rate in India. One of the main reasons for this is that we have made it easier for citizens to report cyber crimes in Karnataka. Cyber Crimes police stations have been established in each district, and citizens in Karnataka can directly report cybercrimes on the 112 helpline. The Karnataka model of the Cybercrime Incident Report (CIR) system has made it easier for citizens to file complaints and is being studied for implementation in other states as well. We are cognizant of the threat posed by cybercriminals and are proactively working to prevent online fraud and harassment. In this context, I would like to congratulate both Truecaller and CPF for taking this initiative and helping to create awareness amongst citizens on how to have a safe digital experience.”

Addressing the dignitaries and the audience, the Principal, BMSCE, Dr. S Muralidhara said, "In today's world when the internet is rapidly growing and everybody is online all the time, people often ignore their safety and security. Our contact information is highly susceptible to getting into the wrong hands and resulting in people getting vulnerable online. Often we users get unwanted calls and messages leading to gullible public getting trapped by cyber criminals. To educate everybody, we are happy and honored to share that CyberPeace Foundation and TrueCaller have joined hands to launch the campaign #TrueCyberSafe at BMS College of Engineering Bengaluru. I would request all the students, teachers, staff members to be part of this initiative and spread the message about the campaign in their family circles, so as to give people the knowledge and tools to be safe online."
 

Ms. Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs, Truecaller said, “Almost all the activities in our daily lives, whether social, economic, educational, are overlapping in digital spaces. There are immense benefits that the internet and use of technology bring but it lends itself to challenges like spam and fraud that we must protect ourselves from. At Truecaller, safety continues to be an absolute priority and we are constantly working towards building trust in communication over phone and SMS by making it safe. With the TrueCyberSafe initiative, we are expanding the scope of our efforts to increase awareness about Cyber fraud and build user capacity on how people can stay safe while communicating. We are happy to be bringing this national campaign to Karnataka, and I hope that along with the efforts of the government and the police, we are able to make communication safer for more Indians."

Talking about the CyberPeace-The Need of the hour, Mr. Purnendu Singh, Director-Operations and Strategy, CyberPeace Foundation said, “#TrueCyberSafe is a monumental initiative to eradicate the menace of cybercrime from cyberspace, by sowing the fruitful seeds of awareness and knowledge among the people. Awareness among children and elderly is essential as they are most vulnerable, hence safeguarding the youngsters will in turn safeguard the future generations. CyberPeace Foundation in collaboration with various corporates and govt agencies have launched various projects to strengthen the online safety and security, some of these projects are-E-Raksha, E-Shakti, E-Saksham, Safety Track and various hackathons, hence today with #TrueCyberSafe campaign we consolidate our take on war against cyber crimes more efficiently. Stay CyberSafe !! Stay CyberSecure !!”

The joint initiative was launched nationwide in February 2022. The campaign aims to create awareness by training 15 lakh people across 5 regions of India to tackle cyber fraud leading to a safer digital communication and increasing awareness about the steps that our users can take to avoid fraud, spam and scams. The campaign will gradually be launched in two other regions in the upcoming months. 

About Truecaller
We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 310 million active users, with half a billion downloads since launch and close to 38 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2021. Headquartered in Stockholm, since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 8 October 2021.

For more information, please visit corporate.truecaller.com.

To dial-up awareness around online scams, Amazon India today announced a one-of-its-kind consumer awareness initiative ‘#FightTheFraud’, in collaboration with the CyberPeace Foundation and Rashtriya Raksha University, an Institute of National Importance under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India as a knowledge partner. The initiative intends to develop a collective response against the growing cybercrime and online scams in India through a range of activities such as webinars, social media awareness campaigns, capacity-building workshops, and others. All relevant stakeholders including consumers, small businesses, industry associations, civil society organizations, and government bodies are expected to participate in these activities.

Combating online fraud and scams has been a top priority of Amazon; it has implemented industry-leading processes to create a secure and safe online marketplace for all relevant stakeholders. These processes include stringent seller verification, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools, to help identify and address potential scams and other fraud prevention measures based on a set of weighted performance criteria determined from feedback reviews and other parameters.

The #FightTheFraud initiative will supplement the measures taken by e-commerce entities, civil societies and government agencies. Lt Gen (Dr.) Rajesh Pant (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VSM, National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) at the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of India launched the event in the presence of Col Nidhish Bhatnagar, Rashtriya Raksha University, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India, Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, The CyberPeace Foundation and Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Public Policy, Amazon India.

Dignitaries at the launch of #FightTheFraud initiative by CyberPeace Foundation and Amazon

Speaking on the power and impact of a collaborative approach to fighting issues of online scams, Sumit Sahay, Director, Seller Partner Services, Amazon India, said, “There is growing uncertainty around cybercrime, and it remains a significant issue plaguing oblivious consumers across industries. We believe that through efficacious collaboration between the stakeholders, which includes industry leaders, policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and consumers, will we be able to resolve this complex issue and derive key learnings. #FightTheFraud initiative is a valuable first step toward bringing together the stakeholders and will serve as a vantage point for collective action.”

Lt General (Dr.) Rajesh Pant (Retd.), National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC), Government of India said, "The World Economic Forum (WEF) has termed cybercrime as the biggest man-made risk to the economic progress of nations and it is said that in a few years of time the total losses, globally are going to touch $10 trillion dollars. Per a report titled Cyber Prabhaav published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the first quarter of 2022 saw a rise of 31% in reported complaints, on the government portal cybercrime.gov.in, as compared to the last quarter of 2021,” Lt General (Dr.) Pant added, “#FightTheFraud initiative is both timely and important given the rising incidence of online scams over the last few years.”

Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation said, “I feel this is a very good time to launch the campaign and a very relevant time because post pandemic, post pandemic, we have seen a surge in the number of cyber frauds and cybercrimes happening that are taking place with people, the netizens all across. It’s not just cities; it’s also going to the villages and smaller towns. We all need to come together and create a safe space online for sellers, consumers and brands.”

Individual addresses from dignitaries were followed by a panel discussion on the theme of “Enhancing Customer Trust through Collaborations”. The discussion highlighted risks faced by consumers, small businesses and brands from online scams and the range of measures adopted by stakeholders to mitigate these risks.

Ongoing Panel Discussion on “Enhancing Customer Trust through Collaborations”

About Amazon.in

The Amazon.in marketplace is operated by Amazon Seller Services Private Ltd, an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Amazon.in seeks to build the most customer-centric online destination for customers to find and discover virtually anything they want to buy online by giving them more of what they want - vast selection, attractive prices, fast and reliable delivery, and a trusted and convenient experience; and provide sellers with a world-class ecommerce marketplace.

For more information, please visit www.amazon.in/aboutus. For news on Amazon, follow www.twitter.com/AmazonNews_IN

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon.

For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews

About The CyberPeace Foundation

CyberPeace Foundation (CPF) is an award-winning civil society organization, think tank of cyber security and policy experts with the vision of pioneering cyber peace Initiatives to build collective resiliency against cybercrimes & global threats of cyber warfare. CyberPeace Foundation is involved in Policy Advocacy, Research and Training related to all aspects of cyber peace and cyber security. Key areas of CyberPeace Foundation work are in Technology Governance, Policy Review and Advocacy, Capacity and Capability creation and building through partnerships with various government organizations, academic institutions and civil society entities.

For more information, please visit: www.cyberpeace.org.

Inauguration of the new state-of-the-art CDRC in Pune
 

Over the past ten years, SecurView has delivered hundreds of security projects involving Network Access Control, Wide Area Networking and Data Center security. SecurView’s Cyber Defense Center provides end-to-end managed security for Zero-Trust Networking (that includes managed NAC, NextGen Firewalls, RA-VPN, Compliance) for on-prem and Cloud IT assets for customers.
 

“SecurView’s mission is to assist organizations in implementing cybersecurity solutions effectively. Our cloud-native Next-Gen platform provides contextual threat intelligence. Cybersecurity threats are becoming complex, and many organizations find it difficult to prevent evolving threats such as ransomware attacks. With this in mind, we are proud of our new state-of-the-art CDRC in Pune, India that is available to customers globally,” said Rajeev Khanolkar, President and CEO of SecurView.
 

“SecurView continues to be a trusted service provider that helps customers adopt to a more proactive security approach. We have proven security methodologies, expertise, and a customer-centric approach. Our world-class SOC analysts perform 24x7 security monitoring and management, along with advanced analytics and threat hunting,” said Nilesh Patil, Managing Director of APAC and EMEA at SecurView.
 

"SecurView is a leading cybersecurity solutions service provider focusing on helping organizations with the implementation and optimization of their security devices and services. They are differentiated in the market by their quick time-to-value, reduced complexity, and cost of implementation for customers’ cyber security needs. SecurView's mission is to help clients stay ahead of threats and mitigate risks that could impact their businesses. SecurView team monitors systems around-the-clock to protect Fareportal's service reliability as a trusted customer," says Ankur Ahuja, CISO, Fareportal.

SecurView Solutions

Here is a partial list of SecurView’s solutions:

• Security Operations Center

• MDR (Managed Detect and Response)

• Zero Trust Networking

• NAC/Segmentation (Cisco ISE and TrustSec)

• Micro-segmentation

• Next-Generation Firewalls

• SDN - Architecture, Implementation, and Optimization

• SDWAN - Architecture, Implementation, and Optimization

• Remote Access VPN

• Cloud Security

• IoT Security

• Malware Protection

• IT-GRC

• Automation

• Product Engineering
   

About SecurView

SecurView is a leading cybersecurity services provider focused on helping organizations implement and optimize their security landscapes. In July 2018, the RAG-Stiftung (RAG Foundation), through its investment company RAG-Stiftung Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (RSBG), acquired the shares in SecurView, allowing plans to open new business areas and markets, particularly in Europe, to build upon SecurView’s successful international growth path. RSBG provides the company with over 45 countries and 90 offices globally.
 

Learn more at www.securview.com.

The CyberPeace Foundation; Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and Ranchi University has entered into a strategic collaboration to work together in the area of cyber space research, policy and advocacy along with other facilities. The CyberPeace Foundation President Major Vineet Kumar, IETE chairperson, Ranchi Shri K.K. Thakur and Ranchi University Vice Chancellor Dr. (Mrs.) Kamini Kumar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on May 19.

While IETE and CyberPeace Foundation will be responsible to provide technical guidance to the programme, Ranchi University shall be responsible for infrastructure support including faculty support and developing a research lab for the cause. 

Founder, CyberPeace Foundation briefing the media persons about the initiative

The collaboration effective from Thursday will encourage research in the field CyberPeace, CyberSecurity, Cyber Defence and Internet Engineering and Governance. With lack of skilled manpower in the area of CyberSecurity defence, the collaboration aims to start new forces in concerned areas and introduce technical trainings to enhance skills in the said domain.

The collaboration will also promote cyber security entrepreneurship, innovation, design and develop indigenous software to help maintain cyber security, cyber peace and Internet standards.

This apart, the collaboration will also encourage events, awareness program and internship opportunities, cyber security skills and education, research and development and faculty development program. Some of the activities planned are as follows:

1. Live Project

2. CyberPeace Quick Reaction Team (CQRT)

• Detection of Fraudulent UPI Handles

• Phishing content

• Fraudulent Mobile Application

• Release threat advisory against real time Cyber Threats

3. Global and National level Cyber Security Hackathon

4. Internship opportunities

5. Certifications

6. Updates of Events and Activities

7. CyberPeace Club

A joint committee, a joint expert group and an advisory council will be formed for the overall administrative, academic, monitoring and review of the programme.

The MoU signing was graced by Honorable Vice Chancellor Dr. (Mrs.) Kamini Kumar and her team mentioned, “Our initiative in collaboration with CyberPeace Foundation and IETE here is to increase employability for our students and awareness for our teachers. We already teach subjects like Network Security, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, etc. By this collaboration we intend to impart practical skills to the students. We will be providing the framework for the courses and CyberPeace Foundation will be developing them. This when gets approved will be taught as a 6 month course or a 1 year diploma.”

At the occasion, Shri KK Thakur, Chairman - IETE, Ranchi, CGMT (Retd), BSNL said, “Jharkhand IETE and CyberPeace Foundation jointly have done this CoE and have been engaged in different research work, which have been published in various newspapers and magazines. This MoU with Ranchi University is really going to be a landmark for us as Jharkhand is already dealing with a lot of cybercrimes. This step is taken to educate people, the young generation, police personnel, teachers and netizens. We wish that there should be a lot of cyber training and this COE is going to work in this direction. We are going to have good courses for our students. There are a lot of job opportunities in this field and this is really going to be a boon for our state.”

While signing the MoU, Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation addressed the media and everyone there and mentioned, “CyberPeace Foundation is a Global initiative started from India. CyberPeace wishes to create an ecosystem for CyberPeace and CyberSecurity across the globe. It also aims to provide a platform to the students to showcase their cyber expertise and get them skill ready for the opportunities in field of CyberSecurity. There is still a CyberSecurity workforce gap of more than 2.72 million positions. Through this CoE we wish to bridge the skill gap.”

About Organizations

CyberPeace Foundation is an apolitical civil society organization and think tank of cyber security and policy experts. CPC is involved in Policy Advocacy, Research and Training related to all aspects of CyberPeace and Cyber Security. Key areas of its work are in Technology/Internet Governance, Policy Review and Advocacy, Capacity and Capability creation and building through partnerships with various government organizations, academic institutions and civil society entities.

Founded on Nov.1953, The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) is a leading professional society devoted to the advancement of science and technology of Electronics, Telecommunications, Computers and Information Technology. IETE serves its over 70,000 members both individuals and industries/organizations through its 57 centers spread all over India including one in Kathmandu, Nepal.

News18 Network and Truecaller’s 'CallItOut' Telangana initiative

Sharing some aspects of Telangana's phenomenal digital journey and prioritizing the need for online safety, KT Rama Rao, Cabinet Minister For IT E&C, MA&UD And Industries & Commerce Departments, Telangana said, “We would potentially set up a separate cell for those women who would like to call out online abuse. We would ensure that dedicated resources are provided which might help Telangana become a shining example to the rest of the country.” He further added, “A fine line must be drawn between freedom of speech and online harassment especially in the virtual world. The Government of Telangana will continue to bring measures for empowering women while taking every possible action against the perpetrators.”

Following a keynote address by KT Rama Rao, Cabinet Minister For IT E&C, MA&UD And Industries & Commerce Departments, Telangana, the stage opened for a one on one discussion between Ms K Kavitha, Member of Telangana Legislative Council and Ms Marya Shakil, Senior Political Editor, News18 Network. Appreciating the initiative, Ms K Kavitha stressed on the need for financial as well as societal empowerment of women while encouraging the audience to rise above gender bias. She said, “A collaborative effort is required to tackle harassment by focusing on the need to report things which are disturbing for women in order to bring a logical end to it.” Calling the male counterparts as allies, the minister called them an additional strength who can expand the boundaries of communication around women safety.

Inspiring women to call it out and report, the next phase of discussion brought views from notable speakers in the police department - Swati Lakra, Additional Director General of Police, Telangana; Mr. Jayesh Ranjan - Principal Secretary ITE&C Dept., Government of Telangana and Mr. CV Anand, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad. The speakers shared the phenomenal role played by The She Teams, a task force popularly known as the armor of women started exclusively to work for the safety and security of women. Mr. Anand shared that the police department is conducting training sessions of the officials, counseling them so that women can come forward and comfortably report anything which disturbs them. Ms Swati, on the other hand, told the audience about her experience while running initiatives like CybHER and Cyber Congress which were initiated to provide a safe digital space for women and develop cyber ambassadors. Sharing his views on the need for a balance in use of technology and calling the initiative timely, Mr. Ranjan said, “Digitalization is important but we need to have sophisticated technology as this space evolves.”

The discussion also witnessed the presence of Upasana Kamineni Konidela, Founder of URLife, Vice-chairperson of CSR at Apollo Hospitals and MD of Family Health Plan Insurance TPA Ltd. and the Editor-in-Chief, B Positive Magazine who focused on the need to practice good digital hygiene and Mr. J Srinivas Rao, Chairman, Telangana State Commission for the protection of Child Rights who called women safety a subject of everybody’s concern. 

Renowned Badminton player - Mr. Parupalli Kashyap who also shared the stage with other panelists highlighted on the need of spreading more awareness around the issue while Founder & Director of Youngistaan Foundation who has actively been involved issues around harassment - Mr. Y Arun Daniel Kumar applauded the role men have been playing in empowering women and encouraged the audience to appreciate it during this consciousness building conclave. 

Ms. Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs at Truecaller India addressing the audience at the training

The event was graced by Shri Anurag Goel, IAS, Principal Secretary, IT Department, The Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, Mr. Harmeet Singh, the Founder and GlobalPresident, CyberPeace Foundation, Major Vineet Kumar and Ms. Pragya Misra Mehrishi, Director of Public Affairs, Truecaller and was attended by other important dignitaries, students and faculties of the University.

While delivering the Keynote address and launching the Campaign in Assam, Shri Anurag Goel, IAS, Principal Secretary, IT Department, Assam said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities of cyberspace, which is evidenced by the rise in cyber attacks in the past few years. This can only be tackled through better awareness and building the capacity of people to recognise and report cybercrimes. Taking cognizance of this issue, the government of Assam has taken several measures in the past, including organising a month-long cyber awareness drive and issuing a one-stop guide book on how to stay safe online. We are very happy to see Truecaller play a role in raising awareness, and we wish them all the best. We are confident that this will prove to be an extremely fruitful exercise.”

Gracing the event by his presence, Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, Mr. Harmeet Singh said, "With rapid innovations in technology, there is also a corresponding rise in cyberthreats and online harassment. India has seen a five-fold jump in cyber fraud cases between 2018 and 2021. As we continue our march towards technology, these negative externalities will also continue to grow. Hence, it is imperative that we take measures to empower citizens, and the first step to achieving this is raising awareness about digital safety and outlining the ways in which people can report cyber crimes. I’m certain that this nationwide program will go a long way in realising this goal.”

Ms. Pragya Misra Mehrishi, Director of Public Affairs, Truecaller said, “In this modern world, cyber safety is a pressing issue that needs immediate attention and redressal. Our past surveys show that while one in five women in India receive sexual harrassment calls, only 12 percent report it to the authorities. This shows the extent of normalization in the country. Truecaller has always been committed to ensuring digital spaces are safe for everyone. There is a need for citizens, policymakers, volunteers, government and the civil society to join hands to raise awareness and play a role in making digital communication safer for everyone. It is with this objective that Truecaller has partnered with CyberPeace Foundation to launch #TrueCyberSafe to encourage digital users to learn how to stay safe online, take steps to report cybercrimes and aid them in nurturing the faculties of critical thinking and empathy. The program will focus on improving netizen’s resilience and capacity to access the digital world safely, increase awareness on Cyber Frauds and its impact on communities. We are certain that this program will play an instrumental role in raising awareness and creating impact in the society.”

Talking about the “CyberPeace - The Need of the hour” Major Vineet Kumar, Global President and Founder, CyberPeace Foundation said, “Since the past two decades CyberPeace Foundation has emphasised on Online Safety and the issues that might be faced in the upcoming days. Post the onset of pandemic, we did see a rise in the Online Frauds and hence we have constantly collaborated with the organisations across the globe to ensure that the netizens stay CyberAware and CyberAlert and they know the mechanism to report and raise their voices. On our helpline, we get almost 10-11 cases per day related to CyberFrauds. To address this issue, we along with Truecaller believe that this program on understanding online threats and safety is the future of Internet use. When we combine our content and expertise of Truecaller, we can create truly transformative learning experiences that deliver actionable intelligence and we are hopeful to provide the participants with lessons to follow for a safer and peaceful Cyberspace.”

The launch was followed by the inaugural session conducted by Head-Capacity Building, CyberPeace Foundation, Dr. Rakshit Tandon, under the #TrueCyberSafe campaign. During the session Dr. Tandon talked about the recent cyber crimes and Safety measures that one can incorporate in their daily lives to stay CyberSafe. The session also spoke about various reporting mechanisms including the Government reporting portal www.cybercrime.gov.in and CyberPeace WhatsApp helpline number +91 9570000066. The session also discussed the various safety features of Truecaller for users.

For more information, please contact: press@truecaller.com; secretariat@cyberpeace.net

About Truecaller

We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 300 million active users, with half a billion downloads since launch and close to 38 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2021. Headquartered in Stockholm, since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 8 October 2021.

For more information, please visit corporate.truecaller.com.

About CyberPeace Foundation

CyberPeace Foundation (CPF) is an award-winning non-partisan civil society organization, think tank of cybersecurity and policy experts with the vision of pioneering CyberPeace Initiatives to build collective resiliency against cybercrimes & global threats of cyber warfare. CPF is involved in Policy Advocacy, Research and Training related to all aspects of CyberPeace and Cyber Security.Key areas of CyberPeace Foundation work are in technology governance, policy review and advocacy, capacity and capability creation and building through partnerships with various government organizations, academic institutions and civil society entities.

Research done by CyberPeace Foundation (CPF), Autobot Infosec Private Limited, along with CyberPeace Center of Excellence (CCoE), has found that nearly 3.6 lakhs attack events have been recorded between October 2021 to April 2022 on Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) threat intelligence sensors network simulating the Petroleum Refinery network simulated by the research group in India.

The study is a part of CyberPeace Foundation’s e-Kawach program to implement a comprehensive public network and threat intelligence sensors across the country to capture internet traffic and analyze real time cyberattacks that a location or an organization faces. A credible intelligence on real-time threats empower organizations or a Country to build cybersecurity policies.

“By deploying the simulated network, we can collect data on attack patterns, the different types of attack vector for the different protocols, and the recent trends of malicious activity,” spokesperson, CyberPeace Foundation added.

Trends noticed by the research

Like any other critical infrastructure worldwide, Indian critical infrastructure is also vulnerable to cyber attacks involving state & non-state actors. The SCADA Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) threat intelligence sensors network simulating the Petroleum and refinery industry deployed by the CyberPeace Foundation, Autobot Infosec Private Ltd. with the CyberPeace Center of Excellence (CCoE) partners have seen a surge in the number of cyberattacks with 359,989 hits between October 2021 to April 12th 2022.

Being Specific,

In October 2021: 117633 hits

In November 2021: 55871 hits

In December 2021: 20714 hits

In January 2022: 52598 hits

In February 2022: 19342 hits

In March 2022: 69998 hits

In April 2022 (Till 12th): 23833 hits

The Mostly attacked protocols were FTP, HTTP, s7comm, Modbus, SNMP, BACnet.

In addition, there is an increase in the number of phishing/social engineering attacks on Indian organizations in the petroleum or refinery business, as is illustrated in the following case. 

Recently, news has been making the rounds on the internet that Oil India Limited's field headquarters in Assam's Dibrugarh faced a Cyberattack with the injected malwareon their systems, asking for USD 75,00,000 as a ransom.

WhatsApp message containing fake url

In addition to this, the CPF spokesperson has also drawn attention to WhatsApp messages masquerading as an offer from Indian Oil with links luring unsuspecting users with the promise of Indian Oil fuel subsidy presents making the rounds on the app recently. If you receive such messages, try to avoid them, as they can be a scam.

A similar study has been conducted by the Research Teams, based on a WhatsApp campaign that contained a link pretending to be a gift offer from Indian Oil that asks users to participate in a survey and get a chance to win USD 2000.

Fake Congratulatory message

Warning Signs of the Campaign:

• The campaign is pretended to be an offer from Indian Oil Corporation but is hosted on the party third-party domain instead of the official Indian Oil Corporation website, which makes it more suspicious.

• The domain name associated with the campaign has been registered in recent times.

• Multiple redirections have been noticed between the links.

• No reputed site would ask its users to share the campaign on WhatsApp.

• The prize is kept attractive to lure the laypeople.

• Grammatical mistakes have been noticed.

• During the analysis, the research team found that a javascript code called hm.js was being executed in the background from the host hm(.)baidu(.)com, a Baidu subdomain and is used for Baidu Analytics, also known as Baidu Tongji. The important part is that Baidu is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services, products, and artificial intelligence, headquartered in Beijing's Haidian district, China.

The Advisory:

• Do not expose critical services unnecessarily to the internet.

• Network firewalls should always be patched with the latest security updates.

• Isolate the SCADA/ICS network from the public network.

• Periodically perform technical audits of Critical Infrastructuredevices and networks and any other webor end-points directly or indirectly connected to it to identify security concerns.

• Run CyberAwareness Drive by Cyber Experts at regular intervals for the team.

• Develop an R&D lab to enhance CyberSecurity skills among the employees

• Maintain firmPassword Policy:

•  Use a strong password for all devices and online accounts.

• Passwords should be at least 8-13 characters long.

• Passwords should contain at least one upper case (A-Z), numeric character (0-9), and a special character (@&, etc.).

• Do not use the same password for all your online accounts. All the passwords should be different for different versions.

• Try avoiding a password that consists of dictionary words.

• Stay away from Phishing links: Phishing is an attempt of social engineering techniques to inject malware or obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card information by spreading fake links and pretending to pretending to be acting a trustworthy entity. Please donot click on such links before verifying the authenticity of the same.

• Never share or forward fake messages containing links to any social platform without proper verification.

Through this MoU CERT-In and K7 Computing Private Limited propose to work together to enhance the overall security of the computing environment in India and to address the increasingly complex problems associated with cyber security threats. The MoU would facilitate cooperation for detection of latest cyber security threats such as malware/botnets and ransomware that can adversely affect the information assets in the country and devise appropriate security measures while providing security tools to enable such users to secure their systems.

Under this MoU, CERT-In is providing a platform to K7 to provide a free bot and ransomware removal tool for citizens. The details of the free bot and ransomware removal tool are provided on CERT-In’s Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) website through which users from across the country will be able to access and download K7's botnet and ransomware removal tool free of cost.

The "Cyber Swachhta Kendra" (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) is a part of the Government of India's Digital India initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to create a secure cyberspace by detecting botnet infections in India and enable cleaning and securing systems of end users. This centre is being operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).

K7's bot and ransomware removal tool enable users to scan their computers and eradicate any infections they may have. It mitigates some of the commonly known infections like Viruses, Spyware, Adware, and other forms of malware.

Speaking on the collaboration, Mr. Kesavardhanan J, Founder & CEO of K7 Computing, said, “As a 100% Made In India company, we have always been keen to ensure that Indians thrive in cyberspace without fearing digital threats. We are pleased to see cybersecurity gain prominence on the national security agenda, and are delighted to collaborate with CERT-In to protect all Indian computing users.”

Dr. Sanjay Bahl, Director General, CERT-In, said, “The Cyber Swachhta Kendra has achieved marvellous results for enabling secure cyberspace while enhancing cyber hygiene amongst citizens in India. CERT-In envisages effective collaboration with Industry to enable citizens regarding safe usage of digital technologies. As the complexity, frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks continues to increase impacting the end user digital devices, there is a need for sophisticated tools in the hands of citizens to safeguard themselves. The K7 botnet/malware removal tool from K7 Computing is capable of detecting the prominent malware infections prevalent in the wild so as to safeguard customers against the malware and ransomware infections.”

About K7 Computing

K7 Computing is a global provider of leading IT security solutions for enterprises and consumers. Incorporated 30 years ago, K7 Computing has its registered office in Chennai and a strong presence in all Indian states. With more than 20,000 channel partners, K7 Computing protects more than 25 million customers worldwide against threats to their IT environment.

K7 Computing’s range of cybersecurity products include Windows, Mac, Android and iOS protection for home users, and on-premises or cloud deployed desktop, laptop, and server protection for the enterprise. K7’s cybersecurity products are known for their low impact on IT resources and are designed to be quickly deployed and easily used with minimal IT help.

For more details, please visit: www.k7computing.com.

Call It Out Conclave
 

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, on March 29 said the Indian government is toying with the idea of ushering in a legislative framework that will make social media platforms and intermediaries more accountable.

"A lot of people indulge in harassment and trolling online because they think there are no consequences for their actions. They think that they can abuse or harass anyone and will get away because there is a notion that no laws apply to cyberspace," he said.

"Right now, social media platforms and intermediaries are treated as safe haven. But soon we will bring in a legislature under which they will be treated as publishers. Down the road, we will create a reporting structure in which they mandatorily will have to take action against reported misconduct or harassment. This will make it easier to identify and punish those who are committing online crimes. Social media platforms and intermediaries will have to take more responsibility to make the Internet safe," he added.

He, however, clarified that the government wants the Internet to be open and not controlled by the state or big corporations, but it must be safe and trusted as well.

Noted actress Raveena Tandon shared her thoughts on harassment in Bollywood.

"Women face some form of harassment in every industry. In our industry as well, there is harassment and I have seen it. Also, harassment is different at different levels. The glamour of the film industry attracts many women from across the world. They live alone and struggle in Mumbai to make it big in Bollywood. They are most susceptible to harassment as people try to take advantage of the fact that they don't have any background or standing in the industry," she said.

"Things have changed especially after the #MeToo movement. Such people are scared to indulge in harassment. Also, industry people are now more aware and sensitive about the issue of women safety. Women are encouraged to speak out against harassment," she added.

Rakesh Asthana, Commissioner of Delhi Police, said that Delhi police had been able to control crime against women in the last few years.

Asthana also emphasised the role of technology in tackling online cases related to harassment. "We have a specialised unit under a special cell which uses advanced technology to detect and identify those who are involved in cyber-crimes. It has the wherewithal to handle all sorts of cyber-crimes across the country. We managed to solve the 'Bulli Bai' case, in which photos of women were uploaded on a website for sale, in less than 7 days by doing a detailed cyber investigation. The accused were arrested and are now facing charges in the court of law," he informed.

About #ItsNotOk Campaign
India’s biggest news network, Network18 partnered with Truecaller to launch #ItsNotOk campaign, to raise awareness about why it’s important for women to ‘Call It Out’ on harassment issues, leading conversations on how society can enable a safer digital environment for them.

Last week they took the conversation forward with ‘The Call It Out Conclave’ event. Attended by policy makers, law enforcers and Bollywood celebrities, the event was conceptualised to create a bigger conversation around online safety and security in today’s digital world and take into account the steps taken towards making the online space safer for women and building a safe environment for them where they can report harassment.

The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and CyberPeace Foundation (CPF) along with Autobot Infosec Private Limited have jointly deployed Threat Intelligence sensor networks to capture and examine the behavioral techniques of threat actors.

The study is a part of CyberPeace Foundation’s e-Kawach programme to implement a comprehensive public network and threat intelligence sensors across the country in order to capture internet traffic and analyze the real time Cyber attacks that a location or an organization faces. A credible intelligence on real time threats empower organizations or a Country to build CyberSecurity policies.

The objective for this research was to examine the different types of signatures that can be used as exhibitors of compromise on the simulated Data center network by collecting information which can mitigate the future attacks on real networks.

“By deploying the simulated network we can collect data on patterns of attack, the different types of attack vector for the different protocols and the recent trends of malicious activity.” spokesperson, CyberPeace Foundation added.

Trends noticed by the research

Data collection for the current study started from April, 2021 to December, 2021. It was found that during the aforementioned time span the deployed network instance captured a total number of 50,477,393 attack events from a total number of 40937 Unique IP addresses globally. Mostly Attacked destination protocols were:

• HTTPS (44.277%)

• SSH (23.743%)

• HTTP (19.305%)

• SMTP (6.621%)

Image: Report Statistics

Image: Attacks Statistics

The study also found a total number of 26166 usernames that were used to log into the networks by attackers while a total number of 80282 passwords were found that were used to log into the networks by attackers.

During the threat analysis the Researchers also identified that after compromising the environment, attackers tried to run multiple terminal commands and also tried to download malicious payloads on the system. Researchers found a total number of 131388 unique terminal commands were run in the system while a total number of 1262 unique payloads have been identified that were injected to the environment. The payloads include the malicious files like botnet, trojan etc.

The Advisory

• Do not expose services like SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, SMB, MSSQL, MYSQL unnecessarily to the internet.

• Maintain strong Password Policy:

• Use a strong password for all devices and online accounts.

• Passwords should be at least 8-13 characters long.

• Passwords should contain at least one upper case (A-Z), numeric character (0-9) and a special character (!@%&....).

• Do not use the same password for all your online accounts. All the passwords should be different for different accounts.

• Try avoiding a password that consists in the dictionary.

• Network firewalls should always be patched with latest security updates.

• Add the attacker IP addresses mentioned in the report to the blacklist of the firewall solution in order to block inbound connections from the respective IP addresses.

Rajesh Kumar, Vice President Business Technology Unit, Inflow Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
 

Inflow Technologies is the fastest growing value-added distributor in India and is a niche player in the Distribution Services industry providing Value Added Distribution in Cyber Security, Networking, Unified Communications and Collaboration, AIDC & POS, Infrastructure & Application Software, Storage Management and Electronic Security products & related services in South Asia with revenue run rate of USD 370+ million. Headquartered in Bangalore, Inflow Technologies has a presence in 15 locations across India & SAARC.
 

“Claroty has created the industry leading platform to detect, manage and secure OT, IoT, and IIoT assets in industrial environments. We are delighted to partner with them and through our esteemed channel partners we will focus on offering this industrial cybersecurity solution to end customers. Our skilled, focussed team will work with identified channel partners to equip and enable their teams,” said Rajesh Kumar, Vice President Business Technology Unit, Inflow Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
 

The Claroty Platform is a complete industrial cybersecurity solution that comprises Claroty’s Continuous Threat Detection, Secure Remote Access, and Edge technologies. It reveals and protects all industrial assets while detecting the earliest indicators of threats via proprietary detection technologies. With highly flexible and rapid deployment options, a vast integration ecosystem, and robust API, the platform seamlessly integrates with any industrial environment regardless of scale, architecture, or maturity of existing cybersecurity programs. The platform is also the industry’s only solution with integrated remote incident management capabilities spanning the entire incident lifecycle.
 

“Securing the industrial economy has historically been a difficult process due to the complexity and inaccessibility of OT environments,” said Nick Nindra, Head of Channels and Alliances, APJ at Claroty. “This endeavor requires a strong ecosystem of partners working closely together to give industrial enterprises fast and easy solutions, which we aim to do through our partnership with Inflow Technologies Pvt. Ltd. We look forward to working together to secure the industrial and critical infrastructure systems that power India’s economy.”
 

About Inflow Technologies

Inflow Technologies was founded in the year 2005 and is headquartered in Bangalore. A niche player in the IT Distribution Services market in India/South Asia. Inflow Technologies addresses the growing needs of organizations to manage and secure information more effectively and intelligently. The team at Inflow Technologies are well-versed with the latest and the most powerful technologies available today for locating, organizing, managing, retrieving, analysing, protecting, and presenting information.
 

Being a VAD (Value Add Distributor), we cater to Cyber Security, Unified Communications and Collaboration, Networking, Automatic Identification and Data Capture & POS, Infrastructure & Application Software, Storage Management, Electronic Security products & related services in South Asia.
 

We have direct relationships with 40 plus Global Technology vendors, have a strong channel of 2300 plus partners, offering one or more solutions to 7000 plus end customers.

To learn more, please visit www.inflowtechnologies.com.
 

About Claroty

Claroty is the industrial cybersecurity company. Trusted by the world’s largest enterprises, Claroty helps customers reveal, protect, and manage their OT, IoT, and IIoT assets. The company’s comprehensive platform connects seamlessly with customers’ existing infrastructure and programs while providing a full range of industrial cybersecurity controls for visibility, threat detection, risk and vulnerability management, and secure remote access - all with a significantly reduced total cost of ownership. Claroty is backed and adopted by leading industrial automation vendors, with an expansive partner ecosystem and award-winning research team. The company is headquartered in New York City and has a presence in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, and deployments on all seven continents. 
 

To learn more, please visit www.claroty.com.

The Research Wing of CyberPeace Foundation along with Autobot Infosec Private Limited have conducted a study based on a WhatsApp message that contained a link pretending to be a free gift offer from Amazon which asks users to participate in a short quiz in order to get a chance to win a Women’s Day gift.

Message as received on WhatsApp with the link

Warning Signs:

• The campaign is pretended to be an offer from Amazon but hosted on the third party domain instead of the official Amazon website which makes it more suspicious.

• The domain name associated with the campaign has been registered in very recent times.

• Multiple redirections have been noticed between the links.

• No reputed site would ask its users to share the campaign on WA.

• The prize is kept really attractive to lure the laymen.

• Grammatical mistakes have been noticed.

A congratulations message appears on the landing page with an attractive photo of Amazon products that asks users to participate in a short quiz in order to get a Women’s Day gift. Also the bottom of the page seems to appear like a comment section with public comments establishing the truthfulness of the offer.

Look of the first page post opening the link

The quiz starts with some basic questions like “Do you know Amazon? How old are you? What you think about Amazon? Would you recommend us to your friends?”,etc. Once the user answers the questions a “congratulatory message” is displayed. 

Fake Congratulatory message post the questions are answered

On clicking the OK button users are given three attempts to win the prize. After completing all the attempts a message pops up that the user has won “Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra” mobile phone. It then prompts the user to share the message on WhatsApp.

Strangely enough the user has to keep clicking the WhatsApp button until the progress bar completes. After clicking on the green ‘WhatsApp’ button multiple times it shows a section where an instruction has been given to complete registration in order to get the prize.

After clicking on the green ‘FINISH’ button, it redirects the user to a promotional page of gearbest(.)com.

In background analysis the Research team found a site settrogens(.)com was being connected which may trigger the injection of other malware or unwanted programs.

Read and download the full report here: www.cyberpeace.org/CyberPeace/Repository/20220303-Research-Report-on-Amazon-International-Womens-Day-2022-Giveaway-scam.pdf

Conclusive Summary:

• The whole research activity was performed in a secured sandbox environment where the WhatsApp application was not installed. If any user opens the link from a device like smartphones where WhatsApp application is installed, the sharing features on the site will open the Whatsapp application on the device to share the link.

• The campaign collects information from the users.

• During the investigation the Research team noticed the link redirects the user to a 404 error page if the user opens the link in the desktop computer. However if the link gets opened on a mobile device the campaign works fine. It means cybercriminals have targeted mainly mobile internet users through this campaign.

• Cybercriminals used Cloudflare technologies to mask the real IP addresses of the front end domain name used in the campaign.

CyberPeace Advisory:

• CyberPeace Foundation and Autobot Infosec Private Limited recommend that people should avoid opening such messages sent via social platforms.

• Falling for this trap could lead to whole system compromise such as access to microphone, Camera, Text Messages, Contacts, Pictures, Videos, Banking Applications etc as well as financial loss for the users.

• Do not share confidential details like login credentials, banking information with such a type of scam. 

• Never share or forward fake messages containing links to any social platform without proper verification.

• There is a need for International Cyber Cooperation between countries to bust the criminal gangs running the fraud campaigns affecting individuals and organizations to make the Cyberspace resilient and peaceful.

With a strong commitment to raise awareness about internet safety, Truecaller, the leading global platform for verifying contacts and blocking unwanted communication is collaborating with CyberPeace Foundation, to launch #TrueCyberSafe focused on online safety.

User safety remains a top priority at Truecaller, especially the safety of women and individuals from vulnerable communities. We continue to be the first line of defense against online harassment by empowering users to make informed decisions through Truecaller’s caller identification service with the help of our community marking numbers as spam/scam/fraud. This added context helps the receiver of the call to block or/and report a number leading to safer communication. Additionally, the Guardians is an easy to use location safety app that helps people stay safe when they are on the move.

Truecaller along with CyberPeace Foundation is geared up to take a step ahead by training people to help them in developing the requisite skills to have a safe digital experience and aiding them in nurturing the faculties of critical thinking and empathy. The certification developed along with Autobot Infosec will help people in tackling various kinds of frauds, impersonation, harassment and scams.

Commenting on the partnership, Pragya Misra, Public Affairs Director, Truecaller India, said, “The recent pandemic and social distancing has emphasized the importance of digital communication. However, with this convenience that has helped all of us stay connected, we have also had to tackle challenges like Spam and Fraud instances leading to considerable personal loss. Safety has always been and continues to be an absolute priority for us at Truecaller and we are constantly working towards achieving the highest standards of online safety for our users and the wider public at large. This program is a continuation of our efforts that will help increase awareness about Cyber Frauds and build user capacity on how people can stay safe while communicating. We are very excited to partner with CyberPeace Foundation to disseminate these trainings that will target both mature and first-time internet users across India in English and regional languages.”

Sharing his thoughts on the collaboration, Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation said, “Past two decades CyberPeace Foundation has emphasized on Online Safety and the issues that might be faced in the upcoming days. Post the onset of pandemic, we did see a rise in the Cyber related Frauds and hence we have constantly collaborated with the organizations to ensure that the netizens stay Cyber Aware and Cyber Alert and they know the mechanism to report and raise their voices. On our helpline, we get almost 10-11 cases per day related to Cyber Frauds. To address this issue, we are delighted to work with Truecaller and Autobot Infosec and believe that this program on understanding online threats and safety is the future of Internet use. When we combine our content and expertise of Truecaller, we can create truly transformative learning experiences that deliver measurable impact and we are hopeful to provide the participants with lessons to follow for a safe online environment.”

Col Nidhish Bhatnagar, Rashtriya Raksha University, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India said, “Cybersecurity is among India’s major concerns today. As more cyber threats penetrate through the vulnerabilities of our digital infrastructure, the more at risk we are on a personal level, as well as at the national level. In today’s globalized and interconnected world, such threats and vulnerabilities are only likely to increase manifold in the coming years. Hence, it becomes necessary to approach the issue of cybersecurity in a holistic manner to be able to prevent as well as manage cyberattacks. To this end, it is imperative to enhance the public awareness as well as build capacity to address this rapidly evolving threat; and a nationwide campaign for the same is a step towards mitigating data breaches, identity thefts and data thefts in the country.”

Mr. Rakesh Maheshwari, Scientist G and Group Coordinator, Cyber Laws & E-Security, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India said, “With rapidly evolving innovations in technology, there is also a corresponding global rise in cyberattacks and cyberthreats. With an increased dependence on digital technologies and communication, the rise in the misuse of such interconnectedness is inevitable. This paves the need for more attention, research and innovation in cybersecurity practices. India has made strides in the recent past with India’s cyber security industry nearly doubling in size amid the pandemic, but a lot more needs to be done to build public awareness and capacity in this regard. This nationwide campaign of Truecaller and CyberPeace Foundation to raise awareness about cyber safety is a positive step in that direction.”

Gracing the event by his presence, Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, Mr. Harmeet Singh said, "The COVID-19 Pandemic led to people being confined at home, consequently increasing every individual’s digital footprint, particularly with relation to financial transactions among of course the social and educational space.

We are witnessing a substantial rise in Cyber Frauds and Scams, as a consequence of this increased dependency on Digital Transactions. As we continue our march towards technology, these negative externalities will also continue to grow. Along with the sustained efforts of Law Enforcement Agencies, it is of utmost importance to empower citizens and enable safe digital experiences for everyone. This nationwide program to increase awareness and build the capacity of citizens will be a huge step forward in this regard."

About Truecaller

We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies, especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 300 million active users, with half a billion downloads since launch and close to 38 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2021. Headquartered in Stockholm, since 2009, we are a co-founder-led, entrepreneurial company, with a highly experienced management team. Truecaller has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 8 October 2021.

For more information, please visit: corporate.truecaller.com

About CyberPeace Foundation

CyberPeace Foundation (CPF) is an award-winning non-partisan civil society organization, think tank of cybersecurity and policy experts with the vision of pioneering CyberPeace Initiatives to build collective resiliency against cybercrimes & global threats of cyber warfare. CPF is involved in Policy Advocacy, Research and Training related to all aspects of CyberPeace and Cyber Security.Key areas of CyberPeace Foundation work are in technology governance, policy review and advocacy, capacity and capability creation and building through partnerships with various government organizations, academic institutions and civil society entities.

For more information, please visit: www.cyberpeace.org.