Cyber safety taken up as a responsibility by engineering colleges to safeguard students

BENGALURU: As the engineering colleges have already banned gaming and other websites to monitor the log in, they are also keeping an eye on the on-campus online activities which are done by the students and the staff to avoid the cyber threats which are possible and give them security from cyber bullying, cyber grooming and data breach.

Suresh L, the principal of the Cambridge Institute of Technology said that, “We have banned gaming websites such as PUBG and Blue Whale on our college and hostel premises. It’s an ongoing process. Whenever we get a hint of students logging on to irrelevant websites, we restrict them immediately.”

“We conduct counselling too. Since it’s an engineering college, students are smart enough to crack anything. We hold regular seminars to make them aware. We have put in place processes to alert cyber crime police in cases that warrant their intervention,” said KN Subramanya, principal, RV College of Engineering.

The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), had recently come up with a cyber-safety booklet for the students. It speaks about the guidelines for colleges, teachers and students regarding how to handle cyber security, bullying, online job frauds, social engineering and grooming. It has been made available on the AICTE website.

Sanjay Jain, the principal of the CMR Institute of Technology, had said that “We have a counsellor and arrange regular sessions on cyber security to let students know about the possible threats. Cyber security has been introduced as a subject in many colleges. However, we feel that banning websites will not work, particularly for engineering students.”