Professionals skilled in cyber security are the need of the hour, believes Sarita Digumarti, Co-Founder and COO of Jigsaw Academy, an Analytics and Data Science institute in Bengaluru. Known best for the cyber security courses they offer students, their recently-conducted for a week free online course - Cyber Security 101 - gathered a lot of eager learners. Sarita says, "We launched this programme to help people find their interest in cyber security. It provided them with a basic understanding of concepts that a cyber security professional ought to know, which include the dos and don’ts, networking contacts, fraud that usually happens and so on. Around 600 to 700 people participated every day and it helped them develop the skills required for a future as a cyber security professional."
Now that most people have made the shift to the online realm, Sarita predicts that there will be an increase in the number of cyber crimes. She says, "It is going to be critical managing such crimes post COVID-19. It is a fairly large field and these cyber crimes come in different forms, like ethical hacking, defensive security and much more. Hence, the government, private companies, police departments and banks must have their teams in place. We offer a programme called Red Team Specialists which not only trains students but also helps corporate companies build a robust cyber security team. Our students are taught the most advanced techniques and practices by industry experts. Once they graduate, they can conduct a variety of tests that can facilitate government organisations to secure their database."
Jigsaw's other programme called #HireFromHome has also been beneficial during the lockdown. "Usually, when companies have to recruit, they do a telephonic interview. But for the last round, they like to meet the candidate in person. However, companies have accepted now that online interviews are the new normal and it will take some time for us to bounce back. As long as this system allows them to confirm if the candidate is willing to work with a team or under pressure, has the right communication skills and so on, many companies will follow the process of hiring from home," she adds.
When we ask Sarita if India has good cyber security professionals, she says, "No, but the current situation is a wake-up call for youngsters. News reports have stated that a particular online video-calling platform is not secure as it captures all your personal data. We are not investing enough to train youngsters in safeguarding our information and data. I feel that a lot of people are still not comfortable with going online because of this, so it has to be done in a way that our systems and states are safeguarding our data. Now, the gap has increased and I think cloud and cyber security courses are where people need to take interest and explore."
