India needs institutes to train ethical hackers, says cyber security expert

The demand for a large number of ethical hackers in India is growing but there is a dearth of institutes which offer hacking courses, opined Ankit Fadia, one of the brand ambassadors for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ campaign. Fadia, also a cyber security expert was at the Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management to conduct a one-day workshop on cyber security and ethical hacking for budding engineers.

Interacting with media-persons, he recalled that around 15 years ago, people were unaware about what ethical hacking is all about and today, all MNCs especially banking sectors have opened career opportunities for people who think like criminals and do positive work. “Though there is need for such ethical hackers, the country has no platform to train them. As a result, candidates find it challenging to enter this field,” he said, adding that a few companies also offer certificate courses in ethical hacking.

Asked about the recent cyber security breach in the country’s banking system and what went wrong, Fadia said it’s a not a big deal. “In the recent past, Yahoo and other banking industries were hacked in the West and it has been happening from time immemorial. We need to beef-up our online security.”

It has been a herculean task for police and law and enforcement agencies to obtain data from internet giants and social media platforms whenever there are cyber-crimes. Facebook, Twitter, Google and other internet platforms have denied furnishing information to police, “Firstly, it is because of they are not very sure about the authenticity of the complaints booked in India. Secondly, they are particular about safeguarding the privacy of the user. Earlier, the Indian government asked Blackberry to setup their servers here but they too turned down the offer,” he said.

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