Our Correspondent
D I Khan
Speakers at two separate conferences on cybersecurity have stressed need to revisit security strategies in order to ensure that people, especially youth, do not fall prey to the agenda of enemy. The conferences titled ‘Peace Building and Cybersecurity’ were held at Gomal University, Tank Campus and Qurtaba University of Science and Information Technology Dera Ismail Khan on Thursday. A large number of faculty members, academicians, intellectuals, cybersecurity experts and students participated in the sessions.
Addressing the conference, speakers said cybersecurity is a complex issue, which requires in-depth analysis from various perspectives to formulate counter strategies. They said subversion on religious, sectarian, ethnic and social issues through a soft offensive by using internet and the cyberspace needs a comprehensive counter strategy to ensure that people do not fall prey to the agenda of the adversaries.
The speakers said amid ongoing digital transformation and expanding cyberspace, the growing prevalence and severity of cyber-attacks is posing a serious threat to the global economy, national security, peace and stability and relations between states and regions. They apprised the participants as to how negative elements misuse the cyberspace by cyber-bullying, identity theft and loss of private data.
Highlighting the risks of hacking and misuse of personal information, they cautioned the young students about terrorist groups increasingly using cyberspace for recruitment and radicalisation of the youth. They explained how the children may unwittingly expose their families to online risks, for example by accidentally downloading malware that could give cybercriminals access to very sensitive personal information. While discussing the good practices in using social media platforms.
