The CyberSapiens team discovered that 90% of students in classes 6 to 8 in Chikkaballapur are active on Instagram, with 50% having conversed with strangers. The team, including Robin D’Souza, Shashidhar Patgar, and Harshitha, conducted the Cyber Sainik programme in five schools in the Chikkaballapur district recently.
Robin D’Souza, founder of CyberSapiens, told TOI, “We have imparted training under the Cyber Sainik programme to five schools in Chikkaballapur, and the same will be extended across the state.” The training sessions included a drawing competition where students depicted various topics related to cybercrime.
The Data Security Council of India, in partnership with IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl, has launched the Cyber Sainik programme, aiming to train 25,000 students in cybersecurity over the next three years across India. D’Souza explained that government and private schools in Chikkaballapur have been selected for the first phase of the programme. Hour-long sessions conducted over three consecutive days teach students about internet safety, social media risks, and cybercrime prevention.
The curriculum covers topics like pornography, sextortion, cyberbullying, mobile safety, cyber harassment, doxing, social engineering, and cyber fraud. Demonstrations on creating fake websites are also part of the training. “We noticed that at least 60% of the students had faced or witnessed cybercrimes, such as OTP fraud or receiving vulgar messages,” said D’Souza. The programme aims to help children understand how criminals operate and how to avoid scams.
Many students reached out after the sessions to discuss their problems and inquire about AI, ChatGPT, and the risks of AI for students.