A Cyber Security Awareness Session was conducted by the Skill Workshop Committee on 6th September 2025 for the students of Std XI Commerce in the St. Joseph Vaz Auditorium. The Guest Speaker was Mr. Deepak Pednekar, Police Inspector, Cyber Crime, Ribandar. The programme commenced with an introduction delivered by Kiera Lobo, following which the Guest Speaker, Police Inspector Pednekar, addressed the gathering. Inspector Pednekar began by engaging the students with a question about mobile phone ownership, linking it to the increasing prevalence of cybercrimes in today's digital world. He highlighted that India, including Goa, loses significant amount of money annually due to cyber frauds and pointed out that many hackers are often teenagers. He emphasised that negligence, greed, and fear are the root causes behind most cybercrimes. The session covered crucial topics such as cyberstalking and cyberbullying. The inspector shared safety measures like keeping profiles private, disabling location services, and enabling two-step verification. Real-life examples were cited where people became victims simply by revealing their locations through social media posts. He further discussed emerging cyber threats, including Al related frauds such as deepfakes and voice cloning scams, online job frauds, Impersonation and Identity theft, Matrimonial frauds, Courier OTP frauds, Hacking of profiles, QR code based frauds.
Inspector Pednekar also cautioned students about downloading mod APKs and unverified apps. He advised downloading applications only from trusted sources and carefully checking app permissions. A key takeaway from his talk was the reminder: “If something is free, we are the product.” He urged students to be cautious before sharing personal information online, as digital footprints are permanent. Official helpline resources were also shared for reporting cybercrimes: Cyber Crime Helpline Number: 1930 Cyber Crime Reporting
Portal: www.cybercrime.gov.in Sanchar Saathi Portal: www.sancharsaathi.gov.in which helps trace ownership of a mobile phone. Overall, the session was highly insightful and practical, creating awareness about the seriousness of cyber threats and equipping students with essential knowledge to stay safe online. The programme concluded with the Vote of Thanks proposed by Alyssa Fernandes.