FPJ Cyber Secure: Maharashtra Gets 1,000 Calls From Online Fraud Victims Daily, Says SP Sanjay Shintre

Navi Mumbai: There has been a rise of 121 per cent in cybercrimes in the last three years and a 36 hours Hackathon may not be enough to solve the problem, said Dr Vinod Mohitkar, Director DTE Maharashtra state at the KAVACH 2023 Cyber Security Hackathon held on August 8 and 9 at Pillai College of Engineering, New Panvel.

'KAVACH-2023' is a unique National Level Hackathon to identify innovative concepts and technology solutions for addressing the security challenges of the 21st century faced by our intelligence agencies. Dr R Unnikrishnan, Advisor AICTE was also at the event.

'Innovate or perish'

Dr Mohitkar stressed that in today’s world “innovate or perish” is the new mantra. “The Innovation Global Rank of India has seen a paradigm shift from 81 in 2015 to 40 in 2022. However, there has been a 121 % increase in cybercrimes from 2020 to 2023,” he said, adding that the 36-hour Hackathon may not be enough to solve the problem but to get a vision for future solutions.

On the occasion, Sanjay Shintre, (IPS) Superintendent of Police, Maharashtra Cyber made the shocking revelation that every day the cyber cell of Maharashtra receives around 1000 calls from the victims of cyber fraud. He further informed that in order to curb the growing menace of cybercrime and to develop a counter-offensive for every modus operandi of the cyber criminals, the government of Maharashtra has initiated the Maharashtra Cyber Security Project at Millennium Business Park in Mhape in Navi Mumbai. This will also provide internships to students in cybercrime.

KAVACH 2023

The grand finale of KAVACH 2023 was held on August 8 and 9, 2023, at five different Zonal Centres, including Pillai College of Engineering in New Panvel (Navi Mumbai). The 36-hour event witnessed 22 teams competing at the Pillai College venue.

Dr Vasudevan Pillai, CEO of Pillai Group of Institutions, expressed his satisfaction that the government is now taking interest in granting funds for research to private institutions apart from IITs and NITs. He asked the winners of the competition to continue to strive for perfection.

On the successful completion of 36 hours of the competition, the evaluators decided on the winners based on their interactions and the implementation of their guidelines. The winners of KAVACH 2023 were announced during the valedictory function held on August 10.