"Do schools inform students about cyber hygiene?": Delhi's cyber crime DCP

Cybercrime awareness should become part of the school syllabus, a top police officer has said, pointing out that frauds and thefts in the virtual space still do not shake up the common man as much as muggings and robberies that happen in streets or homes. This was stated in a report by PTI.

Hemant Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Delhi's cyber crime unit, told PTI that a huge jump had been noticed in cyber crimes in the past one-and-a-half years and it may rise more in the coming years.

"Crime against cyber property will see a rise and a time may come when each district will have more cyber police stations than traditional crime police stations," he said.

As people are conducting more and more of their business digitally, and a lot of money is stored virtually on phones and computers, thieves too are moving from the physical world to the virtual space.

Upon this, the common man does not seem to have grasped or acknowledged the great potential for fraud in cyberspace. Hence, awareness is required rather than changing the law, Tiwari said.

"There is a lack of awareness about cyber crimes. For example, if you are travelling in a crowded train, you will keep checking your purse because you know that it could be stolen by pickpockets but one does not apply this (caution) in cyberspace," Tiwari said.

Citing another example, Tiwari said most people are unaware that they can lock their Aadhaar cards. "Even I was not aware of it but when a case came in our unit, I got to know that one can lock it," he said.

Tiwari said a cheater can misuse an Aadhaar card by opening an account and using it for fraud.

"If you have locked your Aadhaar card it cannot be misused. What I want to say is that there is a lack of awareness. Even Gen Z does not know how to manage their data on social media. The parents don't tell their teenage children about whom to befriend or not to befriend on social media," said Tiwari.

In addition, Tiwari also questioned, "When children are going to school they tell them everything including good touch, bad touch and how to be cautious of strangers. Do they ever tell them about cyber hygiene?"

Lastly, Tiwari mentioned that cyber safety awareness should be a part of the school syllabus. "The way we caution our children about good and bad habits in the offline space, the same should be done for the virtual space," he added.