IIT Madras announces cyber commandos’ programme

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has announced a new training programme. It is to create Cyber Commandos among law enforcement officers across the nation. It is an initiative of the union Ministry of Home affairs. The Cyber Commandos programme is a significant step in boosting India's cyber defence capabilities.
The skilled force will be at the front of defending the nation against cyberattacks. It will safeguard the sensitive data and maintain digital sovereignty.

The Cyber Commandos will represent an essential transformation from existing cybercrime cells. These cells will majorly lay emphasis on investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes, the commandos will be a proactive force.

The training programme was announced at IIT Madras on October 3,2024. It was inaugurated win presence of dignitaries, Dr Sandeep Mittal, IPS, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Cyber Crime Wing, Tamil Nadu, Col Arvind Kumar, Director, Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre I4C, Mr. Mayank Ghildiyal, Deputy Director, I4C, Dr. MJ Shankar Raman, CEO, IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation and others

While speaking at the programme, Professor V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, stated, "On a daily basis, the cyber threat landscape is increasing. We are getting more and more devices into our day-to-day lives as digitisation increases. Data is very important now. Processing of both structured and non-structured day is also vital."

While laying emphasis on Future' Cyber Challenges in context of India Dr Sandeep Mittal, IPS, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Cyber Crime Wing, Tamil Nadu, said, "The Cyber domain is extremely attractive for malicious actors because it is a highly dynamic, faceless and boundary-less domain capable of throwing surprises with rapidity. It is a very low-cost effort with asymmetric results. The risks are the opportunities and the opportunities are the risks. The discovery of Stuxnet in 2010 heralded an era of the weaponisation of software code. This was only the beginning, as it was followed by many things.".

The initiative is to strengthen the defence cyber security.