Police to offer cyber security solutions to educational institutes in state

The websites of universities and colleges are vulnerable to cyber crime,the DCB said. A recent incident of data tampering of the Gujarat University website by a Rajkot student revealed the flaws in web security maintained by the educational institutes.

Inspector Kiran Patel of the cell said small budgets and needless focus on presentation has led to the vulnerability of the educational websites.

He said: “The websites of small institutes perhaps do not use proper security software and large institutes give more importance to making their websites more accessible. They want maximum students to use their website in short time. They design websites that do not take much time to load and are attractive for students and end up paying no attention to security.”

The DCB has decided to call web developers from the institutes and help them with security solutions. They will be briefed on the flaws in their security system and utility of various software that can help them secure data and procure them.

Another factor that has triggered the youths to go for hacking university websites is the practice of teaching ethical hacking in computer classes in Ahmedabad.

Patel said: “Recently,computer institutes have taken a fancy to teaching ethical hacking. This course teaches students methods to hack using codes. Although the intention of running these courses is good,it is proving harmful.”

He added: “The youths who learn these courses are hired by many companies for their security as these students are experts in detecting data tampering and phishing. But some classes are also giving certain codes for hacking,which is a dangerous practice.”

The DCB said during the period,when admission processes are underway,many technocrats are working to tamper with the data of colleges and universities. The DCB officials said the students need to be aware of dubious websites,specially the ones that run information on entrance examinations and online admissions. They collect fees in the name of some fake institutes.