Interactive Session on ‘Cyber Safety-the way forward’

An interactive session on ‘Cyber Safety-the way forward’ was organized in DPS R.K.Puram on 19 February 2021, at 10.30 am in the Audio Visual Hall. The guest speaker Mr Anuj Agarwal is a well-known Cybersecurity expert. He was introduced by Mr Amit Kaushik, Additional DCP, Delhi Police (South West District). The session started with the Principal, Ms Padma Srinivasan welcoming the audience which included both the teaching and the non-teaching staff of the school.

Mr Amit Kaushik enlightened the audience about the various dangers that students can encounter due to overexposure to the cyber world.  Students nowadays have free mobile access and are a part of various Whatsapp groups. Sometimes the parents fail to monitor their activities and this may lead them into danger. He also advised the audience to lock their Facebook pages and design cryptic passwords in order to protect their accounts on social media. Another common mode of fraud is via the OTP system. One must be careful and check the amount in an OTP while making payments so as not to get cheated by fraudsters. Also, debit cards should be swiped in front of the owner. Having the card out of one’s sight may lead to its cloning, which is dangerous.

Mr Agarwal threw light on cybersecurity by saying that customers get lured by cashback offers, free download of any book or movie, which must be avoided. He even advised the audience to keep the GPS location switched off in their phones. He also warned the audience against using public wifi connections, which are definitely a threat to our security. Mr. Agarwal advised that the firewall installed in our computers and mobile phones should not be removed at any time. He also stressed the importance of counselling parents about the dangers of cybercrime so that they are better equipped to counsel their wards.

The session was very interactive and many staff members had queries related to security in their phones and laptops. The interaction provided a lot of useful information.

The session ended with a vote of thanks by Ms Niva Chhonkar, Headmistress (VI-VIII). She thanked Mr Rajesh Sharma SHO, Police station RK Puram for having organized this informative session.