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DGP GS Rath addresses the forum at Delhi Public School in Ranchi on Tuesday. Picture by Hardeep Singh
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Over 200 Class IX students of Delhi Public School in Ranchi on Tuesday learnt tips to fend off cyber attack from none other than director-general of police (DGP) G.S. Rath himself, who launched the e-Raksha campaign at the cradle to create awareness about cyber crimes.
The students were asked not to part with personal information like address, mobile number, parents’ office address, telephone number, credit card and debit card details, net banking pin or the name and location of their school online without the consent of their parents.
They were also advised to approach their elders immediately if they came across any information that made them feel uncomfortable and were told not to send their photographs on the Net without checking with guardians.
The teenagers were also asked not to respond to e-mails, SMS or bulletin board items that promised special offers, lotteries, or flaunted vulgar and threatening messages or sought personal meetings.
While meeting someone face to face for the first time even after knowing them online, the children were asked to settle on a public venue and take their elders along.
The security tips included not parting with e-mail, bank account, social networking site passwords to anyone other than parents.
For password security, the students were asked to settle for at least eight characters by mixing alphabets and numbers and change them regularly. For the security of credit, ATM or debit cards, the students were told not only not to share CVV numbers with anyone, they were also advised against using credit or debit cards at cyber cafés and small shops.
Cyber Defence Research Centre (CDRC) of the special branch of state police organised the programme. The technical details were explained by CDRC’s chief technology officer Vineet Kumar, while IG (special branch) S.N. Pradhan, outlined the complications that could arise from not taking precautionary measures in the cyber world.
Similar programmes will be held in other schools too.
They were told that in the present age, it was important to be very careful while preparing one’s digital identity.
“People have two identities nowadays. One is physical identify and the other is digital identity. And very soon, digital identity will become more important than physical identity,” Rath said.
He added that the purpose of the programme was to make students aware of the evils associated with the Internet.
Among those present on the occasion were ADG (modernisation) B.B. Pradhan, IG (CID), Anurag Gupta, Zonal IG of Ranchi Zone M.S. Bhatia, IG (provision) R.K. Mallick, IG (organised crime) Sampat Meena besides chairman-cum-managing director of Heavy Engineering Corporation R. Mishra.
Talking about the significance of the awareness campaign, school principal J. Mohanty said taking precautions while working on the Internet was important.
The students, too, were happy with the workshop which they felt had taught them much.
“From today, I will not share any personal information,” said Amrita Mehta, a student of Class IX F. Her friend Shubhaangi Kumari promised to change her password often to save her identity from hackers.
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