The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) celebrated the World Telecommunication and Information Society day, on the theme “Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” set by International Telecom Union (ITU), highlighting the ICT advances for transition to smart and sustainable development. The program was conducted by Dr. Ajay Thakare, Convener & Chairman Technical Programs and Publicity Committee (TPPC), IETE.

Mid Term Symposium (MTS) is a flagship program of IETE. This year the theme chosen was on “Digital Forensics and Information security” said Dr. Thakare. Opening remarks on MTS was given by Mr. Kulchandra Singh, Chairman, IETE Imphal Centre and concluding remarks came from Mr. Ajay Kumar, Zonal Mentor, East, IETE.

“On this occasion of World Telecommunications Day & Information Society Day and Mid Term Symposium of IETE, I would like to share the strategic step IETE has taken by launching its dream project “Centre of Excellence on Cyber Security and Critical infrastructure security” last week. IETE is on transformation path in digital era to serve the society,” said Dr. J. W. Bakal, President, IETE. The program was presided over by Dr. Bakal.

Addressing the online participants, Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna spoke about the transformation which is taking place. “It is a fact that this is the time for us to adopt the transformation from chalk-board teachers to digitally enabled teachers. This is the path towards building a Nation for new tomorrow,” said Dr. Manna.

During the session, on the issue of trained manpower, Professor Dr. Raghunath K. Shevagoakar, Vice-Chancellor, Bennett University & Ex. Director IIT Delhi said that the educational institutions will have to take the responsibility for developing the resources. “It will have to be University or any other Institution to develop manpower with right thinking and skills. If handled right, this will enable us to mould the future of this nation with high ethical values with assured sustainability,” said Prof. Dr. Shevagoakar. According to him, ICT is going to play a very important role in achieving the high standards of professionalism in this sector.

“On our part, we have been driving digital transformation and redefining telecommunications on the back of our comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities,” said Mr. Samar Mittal, Vice President & Market Head, NSW, India, Nokia. He apprised the participants on the developments in the area of Internet of Things (IoT) Security and Automation and discussed various use cases.

During the ‘MTS’ session, Mr. Prasad Patibandla, Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst touched upon digital forensics trends, incident handling procedures on cyber-attacks and various forensic and investigation tolls and procedures for Law Enforcement Agencies.

According to Dr. Anup Ghirdhar, CEO, Sedulity Groups and Cyber Crime Investigator, there is an increase of over 90 per cent in internet traffic during COVID-19 lockdown period. “This has thrown open many challenges for experts,” he added.

“Cyber security issues like hacking, malware attacks, corruption of data and software due to computer viruses, breaking of secured passwords, taking control of computers from remote locations have also grown in tandem and has become a key area of concern. These too need to be addressed effectively,” added Dr. Babu Lal, Chairman Redefine Dimensions Convergence Pvt. Ltd. & former Executive Director, BHEL. He also emphasized that Cyber Security in the 21^st Century is a Matter of Global Coordinated Response.

However, the most challenging issue during this period is cyber related crime. “To check the various unwanted cyber related activities. It has become mandatory that the various related aspects of cyber laws need to be propagated across the public domain,” said Dr. Pawan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court & Expert on Cyber Law.

Digital currency like Bitcoin and Blockchain security are a matter of concern and hence more research is required in future said Mr. Anupam Tiwari, Joint Director (Computers & Communication), Government of India.