IEP Chandigarh, October 2
2: Following the instructions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Haryana Police has decided to celebrate this October as “Cybersecurity Month” with “See Yourself in Cyber” theme.Under this, awareness campaigns focusing upon topics like multi-factor authentication, strong passwords, software updates, identify online fraudsters, prevent financial fraud, and safely use of social media have been prepared.Giving this information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that since last October, first Wednesday of every month is celebrated as Cybersecurity Awareness Day. The main goal of this year’s theme “See Yourself in Cyber” is to make people feel safe and confident in Cyberspace. This time, extra efforts will be made to involve the most important sections of society, women and children, amongst others.“We are now receiving more than 1000 calls daily on the 1930 National Cyber Helpline, whereby immediate action is taken. The increasing number of calls is testament to Haryana Police’s awareness initiatives over the past few months. Crime Reporting is the greatest contribution in preventing any crime and it is also a sign of an aware society. This is the result of the tireless efforts Haryana Police, which has saved around Rs 15 crore so far from cyber thugs.” he added.This time, the Cyber State Nodal Officer, Shri. O.P. Singh, Additional Director General of Police, State Crime Branch has himself taken the responsibility of conducting the program for the month of October in a better and successful manner. By organizing a special meeting with Cyber Nodal Officers of all the districts of Haryana Police, he has also explained the program outline and directed them to ensure that cyber awareness is effectively spread to reach every section.Sharing more information, the spokesperson said that the awareness program on every Wednesday in October will cover different issues. A framework has also been sent to the districts by the State Nodal Agency i.e. State Crime Branch for its effective implementation. For example, in first week of October, it has been decided to focus on “Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication” under which the usefulness of better passwords and multi-factor authentication for social media accounts in addition to bank account will be demonstrated.Along with raising awareness, live demonstration training programs will held and also encouraging creative and strong password generation, adoption of dual security system, use of face or fingerprint of the user will be advised. Moreover, 1930 meter running, interactive session, painting, poetry singing, girl’s self defense techniques and public speaking, stage performance, cyber rahgiri, loudspeaker announcements in various schools and colleges under the leadership of nodal officers in all districts will be conducted. Programs like Cyber Choupal, etc. will be also held.A “Run against Cyber Crime” has been planned on National Unity Day whose preparations have already been made for a large participation. In September, Haryana Police successfully organized Raahgiri Cyber Programs in all districts of the state with the participation of about 32,000 people from the state. This time on October 31, National Unity Day, “Run for Unity” will be held in all tunes owing to the cyber theme, where all ages in the state will be motivated to participate & join the race. Haryana Police will do its best to spread cyber awareness to every corner of the state through various efforts, all preparations have been completed at the state level.In addition to this, public awareness efforts will also be made through social media, a police spokesman said. A Cyber Crime Quiz was also launched via Twitter social media users. As part of this, various cybersecurity-related questions will be asked on the official social media handles so that in addition to assessing the level of awareness, the public can also be associated with this campaign. It is known that this year, in just 9 months, more than 110,000 people have registered to participate in Haryana Police’s awareness campaign through social networks.