REDBACK COUNCIL - RISC

Youngsters are on the internet all the time need to know more about hacking, with India being the preferred target of cyber attacks after the US and China, said Sunny Vaghel, a professional hacker. He was at the Government College of Engineering for a three-day workshop on ethical hacking.

Vaghela said applications and software for cellphones and computers should be downloaded from reliable sources.

"If applications are downloaded from unauthorized sources, there is the risk of private information being accessed by malicious code," Vaghela said.

Around 100 students participated in the workshop from the computer science, information technology and electronics streams.

Vaghela said social networking made accessing data from someone else's account very easy, posing a threat. He said there was the need for more engineers to take up the job of securing the internet.

The cyber crimes have increased by 280% in recent times, while people have been convicted in only 2% of the cases. These issues should immediately be taken to the cyber cell of the local police, Vaghela said.

He said more students should show interest in the field and universities should include it in the syllabus.