Campus Journalist 
All About Cyber Dost: An Initiative to Combat Cyber Crime-
By-Vaishnavi Venkatesan
In these times, when the country is in a nationwide lockdown, the usage of Internet has surged at an immense rate. With more and more people opting to work at home, classes being conducted online, business meetings and e-commerce, the Internet is proving to be a boon during these tough days. However, this step towards mass digitalization has also led to an increase in cyber-crimes. To combat these cyber-crimes and make people aware the government has introduced ‘Cyber Dost’, a platform which serves multi-fold functions by guiding people and directing them towards the right channel to make the Cyber space safer and more effective.
Cyber Dost is a Twitter handle, @CyberDost that covers matters ranging from safe online banking to identity theft and even measures to ensure safe internet usage for children.
The Cyber Dost handle also informs victims of cybercrimes towards the right channels to register their complaints. People can also post their queries on its feed and get an answer about a suitable course of action. It is a great initiate floated by Ministry of Home Affairs in March 2018 that advises people on how to keep their personal and financial details safe while using them online. The account, marked as a cyber-safety and cybersecurity awareness handle, has close to 40,000 followers with 417 tweets posted.
While explaining the idea behind this initiative a member of the ministry of Home Affairs said that,” Due to lack of awareness about the modus operandi of such cyber criminals, some people become victims of various crimes. Education and awareness will help in preventing such crimes to a significant extent.”
The handle also keeps posting tips for the general public and government officials to keep them updated on the best practices regarding cyber security.
Cyber Dost is also making efforts to generate awareness among the public to cross-check the facts as fake news is proving to be a great menace these days and causing unnecessary panic and confusion amongst people especially during such uncertain times.
The most recent tweet by Cyber Dost stated, “Regularly check for and update the software on your mobile device whenever prompted. This empowers your software to achieve optimization and equips them to face the latest security threats of the cyber world.”
Therefore, Cyber Dost literally according to its name acts as a friend lending out a helping hand to make people aware. In today’s rapidly changing world, Internet and technology are at the forefront of development. With changing times, it is imperative that people and the government equip themselves accordingly.
This initiative is a step in the right direction to make people aware of cyber-crimes, methods of preventing them, providing the right channel in cases of complaints and helping reduce confusions. Staying aware will act as a first step in the battle against Cyber-Crime and help in always staying a step ahead of criminals.
We will combat such crimes together?
the Cyber Dost is a good initiative by the minister of Home Affairs. This is a turn to be a milestone to caught cyber criminals.
Cyber dost by far seems to the best initiative of MHA to combat cyber crimes. Chberdost is basically a Twitter handle that covers subjects extending from safe web based banking, to data fraud and even measures to guarantee safe web utilization for kids. The Cyber Dost handle additionally coordinates survivors of digital wrongdoings towards the right channels to record their grumblings. Individuals can post their questions on its take care of and find a solution about an appropriate strategy.
Cyber Dost will be of no use if people do not know about it and do not use it therefore, there is a need to tell people about this cyber dost to which has been done in this article and this has made the article very important. It is appreciated the the functions of the cyber dost are also dealt with in the article.
CyberDost is a portal that has been developed as part of the national level initiative – India Development Gateway (InDG), dedicated to providing information/knowledge and ICT based knowledge products and services in the domain of social development. Very insightful article. Thanks author!
A very insightful Article, not many people must be aware of something even called as a CyberDost. A great initiative from the side of the government as well. Kudos to the author for bringing to the light, that something such as the CyberDost even exist.
Crime prevention advice
Safer internet day
Provision preventive measures
Scanning for vulnerable and procedural gaps
Promotion and funding of prevention initiatives
Cyberdost seems to be a welcome initiative by the MHA in this time of crisis, when people are even more susceptible to becoming victims of cyber crime. The article does a great job of making the readers aware of the twitter handle that posts advice to combat cyber crime and measures to prevent it.