Mysore/Mysuru: The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSS AHER), Division of Geoinformatics and Fo-Sai Forensics recently organised a national webinar on ‘Cyber Security: Securing Our Virtual World.’

India has emerged as ‘Digital India’ and we are witnessing a rapid phase of growth in the technological sector. This has enabled a virtual world for education, learning, entertainment and digital connectivity. User-friendly internet, smartphones, social media and digital mode of the education system has vast potential and benefits.

However, excessive use of the internet may be harmful as it may lead to cyber risks and cyber threats, especially for children and students. This event was aimed at collaborative action to give knowledge and demonstration on cyber security.

The webinar was inaugurated by Dr. B. Manjunatha, Registrar, JSS AHER. In his keynote address, he mentioned that cyber security has been made a compulsory course for all undergraduate students under the National Education Policy-2020. This step will help build a strong foundation for students to understand the basics of cyber security, follow the best practices and protect their digital assets.

The first session of the event was delivered by Dr. R. Ravindra, CIO, JSS AHER, on the topic ‘Understanding Cyber Security’ and he spoke about cyber security, cyber threats and how to protect networks, devices and data from attacks, damage or unauthorised access. He briefed on phishing scams, website spoofing, hacking and how to get secure against these threats.

The second session was by Madhusudan, Forensic Expert and Founder-Director, Fo-Sai Forensics, on ‘Awareness of Cyber Crime in Social Media’.  He explained different types of cyber crimes and demonstrated the cyber security measures to be taken, including social media privacy settings, restricting personal information, user control on who can tag or comment, blocking or preventing unwanted contact or interactions and reviewing app permissions. He emphasised the best practices for social media users and reporting cyber crime to law enforcement agencies.

The third session was on ‘Cyber Security in Digital Age’ by Mayank Sinha, Assistant Manager, Information Technology, Bank Note Paper Mill India Pvt. Ltd, Mysuru. His talk focused on the types of cyber attacks like malware attacks, password attacks, ransomware, the malicious links in emails, instant messages and social sites. He also gave information about digital fraud.

In the theme-based infographic competition on the topic ‘Cyber Security for Digital India,’ S. Shraddha, Research Scholar, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Mysore, secured the first prize while the second prize was bagged by Shiva Kumar and Kiran, UG students, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, JSS AHER.

Short film ‘Nirbhaya: The Third Eye’ filmed by UG students was featured to create awareness about cyber security.

Dr. K.A. Raveesha, Head, School of Life Sciences, JSS AHER, Dr. P. Vanitha Reddy, Coordinator, Dept. of Nutrition & Dietetics, Dr. Sudha Sairam, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dr. Sawant Sushant, Asst. Professor, Division of Geoinformatics, JSS AHER, were part of the webinar Organising Committee.