Devising new technologies that could prevent cyber crimes such as hacking, and strengthening cyber security were the need of the hour, said Madras High Court Judge C.T. Selvam here on Saturday.
Inaugurating the National Cyber Defence Research Centre (NCDRC) on the Kalasalingam University campus, a first of its kind for the State, he said that there were laws to punish the guilty, but only advanced technologies to prevent crimes would help in protecting privacy of individuals and ensuring a society free of cyber crimes.
The information technology sector being a high-growth industry, technological solutions to prevent cyber crimes were all the more needed, he said. “Silicon Valley runs on Indian brains…Microsoft engages many Indians... these are, of course, feathers in our cap. However, there is danger when IT prowess is misused. Cyber crimes lead to intrusion of individuals’ privacy, and sometimes result in their reputation getting tarnished. It can even hurt the nation when critical information is leaked. Like the super conductor for electricity, we need such devices for prevention of cyber crimes,” he said.
In his presidential address, Justice T.N. Vallinayagam, chairman, NCDRC (TN), said that the idea of setting up the NCDRC on the campus of an educational institution was to create awareness of the importance of confidentiality among students and widen the scope of job opportunities.
S. Amar Prasad Reddy, Additional Director General, National Cyber Safety and Security Standards (NCSSS), said that no nation could protect its cyberspace in isolation. Cyber security was a global problem that required coordinated action among nations. The centre, established at a cost of about Rs. 40 lakh, would be controlled by the NCSSS and the team members would focus on cyber forensics.
“We can monitor any hardware or software that puts nation’s security at risk,” he said.
The NCDRC had planned to open 60 such centres across the country in a phased manner and the second centre in the State would come up in Coimbatore shortly.
Kalasalingam University Vice-Chancellor Saravana Sankar said that the facility would be of much benefit to the students.
