Hyderabad: Citizens of Telangana are reportedly losing between Rs 4 to 5 crore daily to cybercriminals, placing the state among the top five most affected in the country, said Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) director Shikha Goel during the Hyderabad Annual Cybersecurity Knowledge (HACK 2.0) summit on Wednesday, November 6.
He further revealed that 96 percent of cybercrimes are the result of human error, such as clicking on fraudulent links or sharing sensitive personal information with scammers.
The 1930 helpline reportedly receives at least 1,200 distress calls daily from across the state.
Highlighting the growing scale of cybercrime losses, Shikha Goel warned that global cybercrime damage is projected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2035, making it the third-largest economy in the world, behind the USA and China.
The H.A.C.K 2.0 summit brought together cybersecurity experts, government officials, law enforcement, and industry leaders to discuss the evolving cyber threat landscape. Topics included the cyber threat environment in Telangana, AI in cybersecurity, and digital citizenship.
Maharashtra’s Additional Director General of Police, Brijesh Singh, spoke about the need for better governance of the internet. He emphasized the importance of social media platforms’ compliance in assisting cybercrime investigations.
“It is time to formalize coordination between law enforcement, industry, and academia,” he added.
Telangana’s IT Minister, D Sridhar Babu, the summit’s chief guest, supported this call for improved collaboration and emphasized that cybersecurity would be central to the state’s “Digital Telangana” initiative.
He also committed to making Telangana a leader in implementing the cybersecurity solutions discussed at the summit. As part of the event, the ‘I AM READY’ campaign was launched by Bharani Kumar Aroll and Advi Sesh to promote digital literacy and online safety.
