Cyber Shikshaa Initiative

The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Microsoft launched the project Cyber Shikshaa Initiative in September 2018 for providing skills to women engineering graduates in the area of Cyber Security. The Cyber Shikshaa Initiative was launched with support from the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA), an initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The Cyber Shikshaa Initiative aims to produce effective skilled women professionals in India. Under this initiative, the deserving women will be trained in Cyber Security courses across the country and provide them with employment opportunities.

Under the Cyber Shikshaa Initiative, the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), and other noted training partners conduct training exclusively for women. They give training to women for making them industry-ready through imparting the necessary technical skills in the domain of Cyber Security. 

The DSCI has partnered with Microsoft for conducting this programme to develop industry-ready Cyber Security women professionals. Initially, this program started in 3 cities, but currently, it is spread across India and has completed training for 22 batches in 12 cities. This programme also offers placement assistance to deserving candidates with the potential recruiters looking to hire for different jobs in the Cyber Security domain. 

Objectives of Cyber Shikshaa Initiative

• The objective of the Cyber Shikshaa Initiative is to contact and associate with the underserved women from the tier-2/tier-3 cities and arrange a career path for them in Cyber Security.
• The Cyber Shikshaa Initiative aims to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of deserving, talented professionals and increase the number of working women in the area of Cyber Security.
• There is a rise in the demand for the skilled workforce in the Cyber Security domain, but the representation of women in this area is low compared to the overall Information Technology (IT) industry average. This initiative aims to change this and increase the number of women working in the Cyber Security domain and meet the demand of the required workforce.

Features of Cyber Shikshaa Initiative

• The DSCI has designed the course curriculum under this initiative.
• The Cyber Shikshaa programme is a four-month dedicated interactive training course with a combination of case studies, practical hands-on, theory and projects. 
• The programme will also cover mentoring sessions with the industry leaders and soft skill workshops, training and technical sessions by Microsoft employee volunteers from time to time.
• Upon completion of training, a certificate is awarded along with placement/employment assistance.

Course Under Cyber Shikshaa Programme

The course under Cyber Shikshaa Programme covers the following seven modules apart from aptitude sessions and soft skills:

• Introduction to Cyber Security.
• System fundamentals.
• Cryptography.
• Web server and application security.
• Network security and counter-measures.
• Cyber forensics.
• Security auditing.

The written exam syllabus covers the following topics along with the course modules:

• C Programming.
• Aptitude.
• Computer networks.

A Certificate is issued to the deserving candidates on successful completion of the Cyber Shikshaa Programme.

Eligibility Criteria for Cyber Shikshaa Programme

• This programme is only for women.
• The candidates must be engineering graduates.
• The candidates should be between the age of 21 to 27 years.
• The family income of the candidate should be less than Rs.7 lakh p.a.
• The minimum qualification of the candidate must be B. Tech or B.E. (IT/CSE/ECE) or MCA, ideally 2019 onwards pass outs. 
• The candidate must be from a tier-2/tier-3 city of India.

The candidate can register for the course by visiting the Cyber Shikshaa Initiative website and filling the form for the course enrollment under the ‘Registration’ tab on the homepage. 

Benefits of Cyber Shikshaa Programme

• The candidates are provided financial assistance to cover the cost of Cyber Shikshaa programme training through the Microsoft CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program.
• The candidates are provided training and learning through a course designed by industry experts.
• The candidates develop soft skills and become industry-ready.
• This programme offers placement assistance for the best talent.
• This programme provides an opportunity to be mentored and taught by the industry experts in Cyber Security.