Hyderabad: In an era where digital presence is increasingly unavoidable, experts stressed the critical need to educate young people about cyber safety and the risks of sharing personal information online at a panel discusson titled “Cyber Predators: The Dark Side of Social Engineering Targeting Industry & Society’s Most Vulnerable.”
“You have to be extra aware of your activities online,” said Vandana Verma, Security Relations Leader at Snyk, a cybersecurity company. She stressed the importance of password protection, drawing an interesting analogy: “Passwords are like our toothbrushes, you don’t share them, do you?”
Growing concerns about cybercrime targeting young people have prompted authorities and cybersecurity experts to call for increased awareness and education. Sriram Birudavolu, CEO of the Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, Telangana, highlighted a worrying trend. “Children as young as a few years old are spending lakhs of their parents’ rupees on online games and transactions by being lured or falling prey to cyber scams.”
The govt has responded with stricter regulations. “As per the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), the highest ever fines for breach of personal data are reserved at Rs 250 crore and multiple breaches at Rs 500 crore,” Birudavolu added, in the wake of strengthening the legal framework to combat cyber threats.
B Sreebala, deputy commissioner of police, cybercrime, Cyberabad commissionerate, pointed out that human vulnerability remains the primary concern. “It is the human user who is often the weakest link in the cybercrime chain,” she noted, adding that criminals are increasingly using psychological manipulation to target victims.
The experts recommended several preventive measures, including strong password protection, careful scrutiny of online transactions and awareness of social engineering tactics. Verma specifically addressed the risks associated with IoT devices. “AWe also need to be careful about how we use smart devices, a simple script of code can wreak havoc on home devices,” Verma added.
