Students of today dream of success in their careers and they definitely have the potential to craft their own success stories. But one common observation across the globe is the confusion in the chosen career. Students are not exactly sure what they want to do. They have some inclination but they are not very sure what they would like to do with

Psychometric testing can be used to make a better career choice. Psychometric testing can be used as a chisel to carve the statuette of a successful individual. Students have a billion options to choose from. And though it is helpful it definitely increases the confusion for most.

In India a lot of attributes affect students’ choice of a stream like family environment, gender, relatives’ opinions, family history, etc. But are these the right attributes? That is why you would notice a lot of individuals facing issues of job dissatisfaction, regardless of the income.

So what is actually needed while choosing a career? A student’s aptitude, interest, personality, adjustment capabilities!!!

How can we identify these without greater error? Psychometric testing is the answer. Emerging as a new trend across the globe over the past decade, psychometric testing has been praised for its ability to help students navigate pathways out of school and into a career. Developed in the early 20th century, psychometrics are applied measurements of the mind that offer comprehensive and reliable insights into personal strengths and weaknesses.

We all make assumptions about our abilities. Psychometric testing can throw up unexpected results and pave the way for better career possibilities. A battery of tests is composed to encompass all these needs. The results are based on the students’ answers but there is a cheat-catch in almost each question that sifts out the human tendency to by-pass the truth. Hence they are authentic and reliable, most often. Psychometric tests are impersonal, standardized and objective so there is no question of bias. In fact the recommendations are based on actuals.

Many graduate recruiters use psychometric tests as part of the selection process for their graduate schemes because of all the above mentioned advantages. A lot of companies’ recruitment procedures have psychometric testing or aptitude testing.

Psychometric testing has now become the need of the hour for students across the globe to guide them across a right career path.

Authored by Asst. Prof. Jiyaa Khatri, Dept. of Psychology, Vishwakarma University, Pune

For many of us the massive civil unrest of 2016 in Kashmir was the first of its kind that shook us out of our urban complacency, made us pause and take notice. Soul slashing pictures of hundreds of youth blinded by pellets moved us emotionally irrespective of which side of the opinion one subscribed to. In another instance, last year, pictures of dust smeared Omran Daqneesh, a Syrian boy sitting still and stunned after an air strike became a stark reminder of the horrors of the war. Did you ever think that there was always an invisible person braving through chaos and violence, trying to capture these compelling but risky shots? He is a photojournalist.

To capture or not to capture.

Often photographers find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place especially while covering the conflict ridden regions. In 1993 Kevin Carter clicked the picture of a malnourished girl in Sudan being observed by a vulture in the background, a symbol of death in most cultures. The picture sparked a debate and people still continue to question the morality of the photographer. How could he busy himself taking a picture instead of offering help?- was the usual rhetoric. The same argument is used for most pictures where the subject is portrayed in crisis.
Kevin Carter committed suicide three months after clicking the picture. The jury is divided whether his guilt for not being able to offer help or his own impoverished circumstances in life that made him take the drastic step. His suicide note read that he was depressed, had no money for phone bills, rent, child care and that he was haunted by the memory of wounded children.

So what is the solution to this dilemma? Should photojournalists hang up their boots and stop doing what they do? Should we all assume that the world is a la la land? Looking away from difficult pictures will not change the reality. We need to realize that photojournalists are not responsible for the sufferings of the world. And in most cases photographers are not in a position to offer any help. The least they can do is to take pictures and carry the message to a larger world that can pressurize the people in positions of power to do something about it.

A good photograph captures real moments and raw emotions which can evoke strong feelings of joy, sadness, loss, shock or empathy without using words. It makes people look and look a little longer! It can translate into reflection and a single picture can sometimes become a movement for help. Steve McCurry’s famous portrayed picture “The Afghan Girl” with her piercing green eyes made the world take notice of the refugee crisis in Afghanistan. It is to his credit that the Afghan Children’s fund was founded j
and more than 1 million dollars were raised. His work, along with many other noted photojournalists has shown hope and light in the dark tunnel.

We should not forget that these photographers often operate from some of the most hostile and dangerous quarters of the world. Sometimes they click pictures at the cost of their emotional and physical health. A lot of journalists suffer from depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after spending considerable time in conflict and famine ridden regions.

Photojournalists often have to navigate a tightrope walk between capturing a compelling image and being sensitive to the vulnerable subjects.
Crucifying the photographer will change nothing. A picture that makes us challenge our comfort zone is an opportunity for us to introspect and reflect on our privileges or do something to make this world a better place. Photographers are merely messengers, shooting the messenger will mute the important message from spreading.

Doctored images.
With new technologies the integrity of photojournalists and the organizations they work for, is being questioned. Some photojournalists have been caught indulging in the malpractice. Often photoshopped and digitally tampered pictures appear on the covers of magazine and other digital media portals.

Even famous and prestigious TIME magazines couldn't resist the lure to tamper with the original pictures. In 1994, TIME magazines came under severe criticism for manipulating the picture of OJ Simpson, arrested for murder by making him look darker and devilish. TIME later apologized to it’s readers.

Accuracy is the benchmark of journalism. Pictures, like written records are a historical document for posterity to make sense of the past. Putting out deceptive pictures in the public domain is a breach of the ethical code and should be curbed by all means.

Photojournalism and the power of a good image.
Ever since the invention of the camera in 1839, photography has kept company with death and suffering. Spanish Civil war was the first war to be witnessed or covered in the modern sense by photojournalists. It brought the conflict to the intimate proximity of peoples homes. But photojournalism goes just beyond war and death.

A photograph is a curious object. On the one hand it is a symbol of human vulnerability and fragility as the moment captured is irreversibly and irremediably lost. On the other hand, it counters that fragility since the captured moment is forever rescued from loss and oblivion since it is frozen in time. The photograph , therefore, is an effective witness of a narrative, and the photographer the creator of this narrative. The narrative captured will reflect the photographer’s perception of the moment.

The age old cliche “a picture is worth a thousand words” forms the backbone of photojournalism. Just like journalists use their pen and paper to tell a story, photojournalists convey a visual story using their camera. We are all visual beings and more than half of our brain’s computational power is connected to sight. Our eyes are the doors to the world and it’s through them that we make any sense of the world. Photojournalism thrives on this quality.

References- https://artplusmarketing.com/the-ethics-of-photojournalism-e2e2a7abf621

Authored by Richa Singh, Content Writer, Investronaut

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is said to be more revolutionary as an invention over discovery of electricity and the invention of the Internet. The buzz is that the manifestation of this technology is going to transform our lives in more ways than one. As artificial intelligence is making inroads into various domains of human life there is a lot of speculation about the future of humans on earth, the nature of new jobs and the imminent loss of existing jobs.

The application of artificial intelligence from health care to education, banking to transport, retail to entertainment is advancing at a fast pace. Hence, it is extremely important for students and adults to acquire skills in artificial intelligence. Training in this multidisciplinary field guarantees tremendous career opportunities. The onus of training the human resources in AI and laying out clear guidelines to tackle the downside of this technology is humungous. The universities are gradually rising up to the challenge and stitching together courses, though a lot needs to be done yet.

Artificial Intelligence is an inherently multidisciplinary field, it spans the intersection of skills in Science, Mathematics, Neuro - biology and Arts- Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology and Computers. For this reason, a lot of universities are allowing a more eclectic choice of courses leading up to a degree and offering specially designed courses in interdisciplinary studies.

Following branches of AI are making rapid inroads in the domains that directly impact our lives -

Expert Systems: It is a computer application that performs a task within a specialized domain with human expertise. The applicability of expert systems in the medical field is unlimited. One such area is medical diagnostics to predict the likelihood of a medical condition, to monitor the course of a disease, to analyze a patient’s response to treatments and to guide the selection of further tests and treatments. Expert system solutions are also successfully deployed to solve issues in the fields of architecture, archeology, commerce, trade and education.

Natural Language Processing(NLP): NLP, coupled with speech recognition, helps machines understand and interact in a natural language spoken by humans. NLP tasks include automatic text summarization, sentiment analysis, text classification and answering questions. Commercial systems like Siri, OK Google, Google Now, chat boxes, virtual assistants and spam filtering in email are few of the NLP applications.

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN): Inspired by biological neural networks, ANN is an attempt to create a network of artificial neurons working in parallel to mimic certain cognitive powers of humans. Classical AI techniques are very good at puzzle and problem solving, playing games like grandmaster-level chess, Othello and complex mathematical computations. But they perform poorly at mimicking human perception like recognizing an object, hearing etc. This is where the strength of ANN lies. An artificial neural net is designed for a specific application like pattern recognition. They are successfully deployed in industry, commerce, and finance applications.

Deep learning models based on ANN have led to cutting edge innovations in computer vision, speech recognition, robotics -  popular application being self-driving vehicles. Deep learning engineers are highly sought after in industry.

Robotics : It is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that deals with designing, building and programming robots. Until recently robots were programmed to only carry out repetitive tasks that do not require intelligence, tasks to reduce and support human actions. Nowadays, advances in robotics rely on AI algorithms to train a robot to interact with people and the world around it in intelligent ways. The use of medical robots to assist human surgeons is becoming more widespread.

Gaming : This is one industry that has explored the potential of AI to the maximum. AI has become an integral part of every computer game. AI, in combination with augmented reality and 3D has changed the face of the computer games completely. In the near future, games will be able to detect facial expressions and the behavior of the player and adapt accordingly. AI is also playing a major role in online casinos and games.

An all pervasive fear in the discussions about AI is about the possibility of machines taking over the human race and the evident loss of jobs. However Andrew Ng, a leading thinker in AI and an adjunct Professor at Stanford University believes that certain domains are more likely to be affected than the others. The call centre employees, human drivers and radiologists are most likely to be most affected. He insists that the only way to remain relevant in the job market is to embrace a life long learning and constantly upgrade skills to keep pace with the changing job profiles.

According to Andrew Ng, Artificial Intelligence is bound to affect every segment of the economy in the future. Countries that invest their resources to have a definitive framework of policies for AI and beef up plans to upgrade skills of its human resources in Artificial Intelligence are likely to reap heavy premium.

It’s essential that governments world over promote digital education, take necessary steps to encourage research in AI and train its work force to keep pace with the quickly shifting paradigm of technology.

Authored by Ms. Reshma Pise, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, Vishwakarma University.

Last year as the news of Chetan Bhagat’s first novel “Five Point Someone” to be included in Delhi University’s syllabus broke out, social media was flooded with reactions that ranged from pearl clutching to downright ridicule. It’s not the first time genre fiction has been rebuked by dogmatic literary pandits. But despite being sneered at by critics, labelled as ‘low-brow’ by snobbish literary camps, the continued ascent of popular fiction across the world is a reaction to elitist view towards literature.

Genre fiction Vs Literary fiction

Termed ideal for a holiday read, Genre fiction is commercial in nature with the primary aim to entertain readers. So, it has a clearly defined plot, and explores realistic themes in a personal style of writing. It relies on telling than on showing. It may not always be experimental in terms of themes, language etc. However, there is a certain stigma and embarrassment attached to it by serious patrons of literature. It is often considered to be a juvenile and underdeveloped form.

Literary fiction is character driven i.e. thoughts and motivations of the character takes a centre stage while the plot is minimal. It is more experimental in terms of language, the use of narrative techniques and it does not relies on convention. It gives license to the reader to imagine a scene by minimal telling and more by the way of showing.

However these distinctions have time and again proved to be problematic, counterproductive and open ended. Daphne Du Maurier , writer of a masterpiece like Rebecca ; who was typecast as romance novelist in her life time is now a celebrated as a writer of layered complex narratives.

What if I were to read Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre primarily as a romance novel, focusing on the ending when Rochester and Jane are reunited? Does the book gets demoted as Genre fiction? If not, then do we not need to dismantle such a distinction? Is the distinction between Genre and Literary fiction then still relevant? And who are the naysayers?

How did we reach here?

When Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719, it was viewed with suspicion and thought to be Genre fiction. It took more than a century for the novel to become literary and earn respectability. But it was not until the Modernist critique of the mass view of life expressed in the novels that the distinction of literary and genre hardened. Modernist writers in English like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Marcel Proust started experimenting with the stream of consciousness technique where the character’s thoughts and inner life was deeply explored. The trend hardened into a norm and anyone who did not adhere to it was labelled subservient and un-literary.
Even the post modernist movement which fractured the distinction between high and low art could not save the novel from this categorization.

The final nail in the coffin, which made genre an adjective was a clever marketing ploy by publishers. In order to market their books to a niche audience, they obsessively began to pigeonhole certain kinds of books in the category of literary fiction and declared them as pure literature. By extension that meant that only those kinds of books are artistic, important and better than other writing.

Why is it unseemly to look down upon genre fiction?

There can be as many literary tastes as there are people on this earth. Literature may serve different functions for each one of us at different times. To some exploratory narrative techniques, and fine language may be the lure to read a book. Some others may want to escape into a good story and an engaging plot, or yearn for an emotional catharsis in relatable themes. So what’s wrong with that? Why judge? Why arrogantly brush aside that need? Why not just let a book be a book?

Secondly, literature is not an elitist entity to be savored by the chosen few.
Often people who mock others for having tawdry taste are secretly members of the page 15 club. It’s good to be humble and acknowledge that fine writers as they all are, a Rushdie or Margaret Atwood or a Thomas Pynchon is not everyone’s cup of tea. So then what do we do? Wait or pick up that much needed first book that appeals to us?

I am by no means proposing that going by this logic one should not strive to create better literature or distinguish good from the bad. All I am saying is that we should not allow literary genres and certain literary style to govern our sense of judgement.

Literature plays a wider role in the society. To my mind it is a means to cultivate empathy, transform us and set our imagination on fire and yes to entertain us too! To this end if I choose to read a romance or fantasy or historical fiction it is entirely my prerogative. The theme of the novel can not be a yardstick to judge the quality of a book. So the next time you see someone holding a copy of Ravinder Singh, Jeffry Archer or Chetan Bhagat, think again before you pontificate.

References-

https://www.newyorker.com/books/joshua-rothman/better-way-think-genre-debate

Authored by Richa Singh, Content Writer, Investronaut

An uninhibited expansion of human activities and unrestricted development has wreaked havoc on the environment. The recent climate imbalance the world over and alarming levels of pollution is a warning about the bleak future that awaits us. In such a scenario, in order to mitigate the harmful effects of unsustainable development on the environment and to create eco-friendly models of development, green finance is the need of the hour.
Green finance refers to financial investment in environmentally responsible businesses, projects and industries. Green finance seeks to preserve the ecological integrity by encouraging green technology, boosting efficiency, sustainability and curtailing carbon footprints.

The World Bank and the European Investment Bank launched green bonds in 2007. Subsequently, corporate too started participating in 2013 giving a major boost to green finance. Green Bonds and Blue Bonds are a novel financial initiatives to raise climate finance. They are like regular bonds, the only difference being that the money raised is used for financing eco-friendly projects and protecting marine resources. These environment friendly projects could be in the areas of renewable energy, clean transportation and sustainable water management.

The Paris climate accord in 2015, has placed the dangers of climate change at the centerstage. It has become a contentious issue between the developed and developing nations. The first world camp is eager to make the emerging economies to commit to sustainable development. Developing nations are demanding the developed countries to provide funds to middle income and low income nations to mitigate the ill effects of climate change. The rationale behind this demand is that hitherto developed nations have been the largest contributors of carbon gas emission which has done considerable damage to the environment in form of warmer climates, increased sea levels, irregular rainfalls to name a few. Developing countries have inherited these issues from the developed countries and to absolve themselves of their sin they should help developing countries set up green projects. In the Paris agreement the feud was addressed to an extent when developed countries agreed to pay US $ 100 billion in aid till 2025 to developing countries for actions on climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Ironically, the U.S, amongst the biggest carbon emitters of the world has declared it’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement as soon as it is legally eligible to do so in 2020.

World scenario
In 2016, G20 heads of state recognized the need for green finance for the first time. It led to a series of strategy implementations for greening their financial systems with China being at the frontline, launching a 35-point programme. Leading insurance regulators all over the world have decided to collaborate to respond to sustainability challenges. Policy measures for greening the financial system has more than doubled to over 200 across 60 countries. These policy changes have accelerated green finance in the market.

Indian Scenario
Green finance space has seen a significant development in India.
India has undertaken national target of reducing emission intensity of GDP by 33-35 percent by 2030 under the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goals. The Government has made an ambitious announcement to make India the first country in the world to use only electric vehicles by 2030. India plans to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and increasing the share of renewables in its energy mix to 40 percent by 2030.
According to Namita Vikas, Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking, Yes Bank, “India’s ambitious NDCs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are estimated to cost USD 2.5 trillion and $8.9 trillion, respectively, by 2030. Mobilizing this enormous amount of climate and SDG finance would require the development of new and innovative financial mechanisms, and channelization of funds towards sustainable sectors and businesses that not only deliver on climate targets, but also meet the developmental agenda.”
In India banks such as SIDBI, IDBI, YES Bank and others have associated themselves with several initiatives to promote lending for sustainable growth technologies particularly in MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector. Banks have created exclusive groups to work on climate change and more specifically on carbon credits advisory services. This group has devised a structured product for providing upfront finance against the carbon credit receivables.
There are several ways in which these banks and DFIs (Designated Financial Institutions) can contribute to green growth. Firstly, they can revamp their internal systems to move towards energy efficiency and move to e-transactions and e-statements, converting their buildings into green premises. Secondly, they can assess environment, social and governance (ESG) risks while appraising projects for financing, and thirdly, they can introduce green financial products such as green bonds.
India’s green bond market is currently pegged at about $3 billion, with the majority of it being allocated to renewable energy projects – contributing directly towards achieving India’s NDCs. Green municipal bonds hold promise towards building the 100 smart cities plan, through market interventions to revive the dormant municipal bonds market.
Yes Bank has raised over Rs 1,000 crore by floating green infra bonds and Exim Bank has obtained $500 million through the issue of green dollar bonds, while IDBI is also set to attract global investors in this arena. The Reserve Bank of India has included renewable energy project financing as a part of priority sector lending category in July 2015.

Conclusion
For developing economies like India the challenge is to get green finance into mainstream finance along with incorporating environmental impact into commercial lending decisions. This has to be done while maintaining a balance between economic growth and social development.
Mobilization of huge financial resources towards climate sustainable future is only one part of the challenge. Channelization of these funds to the emerging climate positive sectors and deployment of funds on time is crucial. A collaborative effort is needed to unleash the full potential of the new economy leading to a more sustainable and green development.

References:

• http://climatemundial.com/whatisgreenfinance/
• Hindu Business Line Article by Rana Kapoor, July 5 2017; https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/innovative-finance-for-a-greener-india/article9750658.ece
• BusinessWorld Article by Anurit Kanti, June 29, 2017; http://businessworld.in/article/Growth-Of-Green-Finance-In-India-To-Achieve-SDGs-NDC-Goals/29-06-2017-121115/
• Research paper by Nannette Lindenberg April 2014; https://www.cbd.int/financial/gcf/definition-greenfinance.pdf
• http://greenfinanceinitiative.org/
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/invest/5-things-to-know-about-green-bonds/articleshow/50680956.cms

Authored by CS. Sandhya Nair, Asst. Prof. Finance, Vishwakarma University

“Winter is coming” the popular refrain from the series Game of Thrones warns of an impending winter. Whether or not the deadly winter strikes Westeros remains to be seen. But the inhabitants of Earth may safely say that the “Summer is coming” and a fatal one at that. That the Earth is bracing for an eternal summer is evident from the melting snow in Antartica, rising sea levels and soaring temperatures across the globe. Can technology, largely responsible for climate change, be a solution and to what extent?

The opinion is divided about the technological solution to climate change. Many argue that climate change is not entirely a technological problem so it needs more than a technological solution. A well rounded solution that takes into account technological, social and cultural cause of climate change is needed. Unless both halves of the problem are addressed the severity of climate change is unlikely to reduce.

Technological solutions
Geoengineering is a set of technologies utilized for reversing the climate change by removing CO2 from the atmosphere and cooling off Earth by reducing the solar radiations reaching the Earth.
The first category of technology is designed to remove CO2 from the air with the help of machines sometimes called as artificial trees. Sequestration, another CO2 removing technology which separates carbon dioxide from other gasses and deposits it miles under the Earth’s surface via pipes or ships.

These technologies are far too few and expensive. The challenge is to make these CO2 removing technologies commercially viable by reducing their running cost.

The second set of technology cool off the Earth by limiting the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth. It involves shooting sulphate aerosols into the space which reflects the sun rays back into the atmosphere like mirrors. It has become extremely controversial because it can be catastrophic for the environment and destroy the ozone layer.

These technological solution are limited in scope as they don't deal with other problems which arise out of excessive CO2 in air such as acidification of the ocean.

This is not to argue that technological solutions are irrelevant but they can’t stand alone as a response to climate change. They are also likely to raise issues of geopolitics and governance. It is almost impossible to reach a consensus where everyone is equally benefitted. Certain schemes may benefit certain countries while may work to the detriment the others.

Social, cultural and non-technological solutions
Amidst the conundrum to find a perfect technology to miraculously rid us of the poisonous gasses, we are undermining the larger social, political and cultural issues that exacerbate the issue of climate change.

Climate change is rooted in social issues. So, when we talk about possible solutions to it, technology at best can offer a temporary or a short term solution. Social issues such as population growth, consumerism, industrial agriculture drive climate change and need urgent intervention.

Consider the issue of over population. In order to address it, systemic programs are needed to empower women, provide them equal employment opportunities and recognize their reproductive rights. It might seem like a vague and very indirect way of addressing climate change. But, it does lead to a steady decline in the population. Countries in which women have higher political status also emit less CO2 per capita.

Don't we all possess shoes, clothes and other things more than what we require for basic sustenance? Capitalism propagates consumerism and thrives on our unending greed to own and hoard things beyond what we require for subsistence. This greed serves the capitalist goals of higher profits by propelling production even at the cost of ecological balance. This tendency is less prevalent in rural communities where greater emphasis is laid on minimalism. This is a cultural and social issue and changing this attitude can go a long way in helping the environmental issues.

Along with these social changes, several seemingly utopian non-technological changes highlighting a strong political will are needed for the civilization to continue. One is of them is to move from fossil fuels to solar energy even if that calls for large investments. The global energy consumption needs to reduce by 60% .

A major chunk of this cut down will have to come from the developed nations as they are the largest consumers of energy. This would mean 90% cut in the energy consumption of U.S and Canada. The developed nations need to aid developing nations in building green projects and sustainable growth patterns. The economy has to change its motto from “gain maximization” to “risk minimization”. The uninhibited expansion of cities must stop and the energy differential between urban and rural has to narrow down. A uniform risk and emission policy for all is needed for the entire globe. Co2 emission beyond a limit is to be made expensive or punishable.

Solutions are galore but the weak political will to execute them is evident in the wake of Trump administration pulling out of the Paris agreement. The breakthrough in climate change mitigation has to be primarily social and political than technological.

References-
https://thebulletin.org/technologys-role-climate-solution
https://ensia.com/voices/climate-change-social-fix/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/18/geo-engineering

Authored by Subodh B. Kharat, Faculty of STEM, Vishwakarma University.

Newton’s third law holds that every action induces an equal and opposite reaction. Every possibility manifests within itself a counter possibility as death is ever present over life. The Internet has opened up a host of possibilities unheard of and unthought of, yet it contains within itself the germ of its own vulnerability, most notable among them being hacking.

Interestingly, long before the term hacking came to be associated with fraudulent acts like stealing personal and corporate data from computer networks, it was used for fun and constructive learning activities and had nothing to do with computers.

White hat hackers. Black hat hackers.

In common computer palace, we distinguish between two kinds of hackers. The terminology of hacking is shaped by the cliche of a good guy wearing a white cow boy hat. Ethical hackers or white hat hackers break in to the protected computer networks with due permission of the company that has employed them. Their job is to point out the loopholes in the security system to thwart potential hacking in the future. Unethical hackers or the black hat hackers do so with a malicious intent.

The thrust for digitization has boosted business potency and enhanced the accuracy, transparency and convenience in financial transactions but it has also exposed us to a huge risk of our life savings disappearing in the wink of an eye. To deal with the menace of hacking financial organizations, social media sites and important government organizations including the United States headquarters of defense, The Pentagon, invite bug bounty hunters. Bug bounty hunting is a collaboration between white hat hackers and companies who then handsomely reward the ones who identify the chink.

Most Vulnerable Targets

India has a robust cyber law in the form of Information Technology Act, 2000 which criminalizes hacking among other cyber crimes under India Penal Code. But when are laws ever enough to keep people from committing crimes?
According to 2016 NCRB ( National Crime Records Bureau) report, 11,592 cyber crimes were reported out of which a whooping 13.5% are against professional hackers.
The financial sector and government agencies have been the chief targets of hackers, not just in India but the world over.

Evidently money attracts the most number of criminals, trying to con people of their hard earned money. That is why the financial sector has been at the fore-front of the risk of data hacking. However, in the last few years banks have injected huge sums of money to battle cyber hacking. In 2017, in the U.S. the banks have invested over $1.5 billions to mitigate the risk of breach in security. The scenario is rather bleak in India. In 2017, the data of 32 lakh debit cards of half a dozen banks stood compromised which is symptomatic of our unpreparedness to tackle the risk of hacking.

With a large amount of official data being stored online almost all government sites belonging to central and state ministries have been taken to the cleaners in the last few years. This may be rather dangerous in view of India being surrounded by hostile neighbors on the both sides.

Most upsetting of them all, earlier this year the rumors were rife about the hacking of Aadhar data. With the government invested to making Aadhar the sine qua non of India citizens, it is likely to be more susceptible to hacking and misuse in the future as well.

What to expect in 2018?

The predictions for 2018 are far from encouraging. It is predicted that along with the extra layer of comfort in our lives, IoT (Internet of Things) will also added additional risk of hacking. With millions of devices connected to each other, 2018 may put people at fresh risk of financial frauds and identity thefts.

The good news is that as consumers are waking up to the risk of hacking most companies in 2018 are going to opt for RBA (Risk-Based Authentication) and MFA (Multi Factor Authentication) to create layered defense to deal with the menace of hacking.

Takeaways

Cyber space is as fragile as any other operational space. So long as it exists, crooks will continue to meddle with sensitive data and the skirmish between the stakeholders and hackers is likely to be an ongoing one. In order to overcome these attacks, the government ought to act nimbly for which first the governments, banks and companies need to come out of their defensive groove and admit the ramification of cyber security breaches.

Secondly the governments and private companies should take advantage of bug hunters, make them collaborators and not threaten them with legal notices. 

Thirdly, the financial institutions and other establishments need to adopt a proactive approach rather than relying on reactive measures in dealing with the future threats.

References-

http://www.infoguardsecurity.com/5-industries-top-hit-list-cyber-criminals-2017/

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/demonetisation-note-currency-ban-how-ethical-hackers-and-cyber-secur

 Authored by Shailesh Thaware, Assistant Professor, Faculty of STEM, Vishwakarma University