Tech Talk
Meet Nirali Bhatia, The Cyber Psychologist Who Is Fighting Cyber Crime
NEW DELHI: Pandemic has in just a month made the world far more digitally connected — and vulnerable — than ever said Nirali Bhatia, a Cyber Psychologist & a Psychotherapist. Bhatia in an exclusive interview with The420.in said there has been an explosion in cyber risks, giving rise to the high demand for a Robust Cybersecurity Response which expands from securing business infrastructure to individuals.
Nirali Bhatia is a TEDx Speaker and a Corporate Trainer with expertise in Cyber Awareness training and Trainings for POSH (act). She heads a web services company “V4WEB” & is also the director of V4WEB CYBERSECURITY.
She is the founder of an anti-cyberbullying organisation – Cyber B.A.A.P. which stands for Cyber Bullying Awareness, Action and Prevention. She served as a vice chair for Women Safety to India’s one of the oldest non-profit organizations – FSAI (Fire Safety Association of India). She has been awarded as “India’s top Women influencer in Cyber Security” – 2022 & 2020.
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Talking about how cyber security industry evolving, Nirali Bhatia said, “Cyber security is now an integral part of every organisation’s framework. 2022 needs next-gen cybersecurity solutions that use real-time predictive methods like machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and behavioural analysis to increase prevention, efficacy, and speed.
Need Of The Hour
Growing reliance on digital tools and the rise in remote working requires a different approach to cybersecurity. Cybersecurity should now be everybody’s business.
Remote work puts more pressure on employees to be vigilant of threats, so cyber safety/security awareness training is more critical now. From tools, it is time to upgrade to a human-centric approach to cyber security.
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Role Of Cyber Psychology In Cyber Security
Cyberpsychology is a discipline within the behavioural sciences, that focuses on the human -technology interaction. Cyber psychologists profile online behaviours, online relationships, technology-related addictions, and transference to computers.
“The fact that technology has dramatically changed the way we work, interact, communicate with each other, and socialise, Cyber psychology development is vital for us both as individuals and as organizations. It helps us better understand and deal with growing cyber harassment, online addictions & online hate, by empowering us to profile cybercriminals and grasp the root cause of cyberattacks.” Bhatia said.
She explained no Cybersecurity plan is complete without securing the human element. Cyber psychologists facilitate understanding and foreseeing the signs of vulnerable humans capable of committing cybercrimes, which is a great measure to avoid insider threats.
Message For Young Cyber Enthusiasts
Cyber is very vast and intertwined domain. Learn, Explore, Experience and be in no rush to pick one niche only. Remember – To sustain long-term interest in the field you choose one needs to enjoy doing it every single day. Invest in finding your source of joy in the work you do and not just the courses in the field.
Nirali’s Career Journey
Speaking about her career graph, Nirali said, “I am enjoying wearing three different professional hats – Business Woman, Trainer & Counsellor and a Cyber professional. It has been a wonderful journey of two decades and still on. I started my career by teaching how to make websites way back in 1997, moved on to front-end development and soon was heading a young dynamic team at V4WEB (our web services company).”
Keen interest in the human psyche led me to the next milestone of my career which was Usability (user behaviour) Analyst. Diving deeper in user behaviour study motivated me to take up my second masters in Psychology leading to the next milestone of my career which was “Cyber Psychology”
My shift to enter cyber security domain was gradual. As IT professionals running a web services company, we kept receiving cases on cybercrimes, website hacking, cyber-squatting, etc. Growing website attacks, data breaches, cybercrimes & harassment led us to establish “V4WEB Cybersecurity” to offer cybersecurity services & cybercrime investigations as our niche.
With very little or no information or awareness available on how to deal with growing cybercrimes & harassment led me to the next milestone of my career which was founding an anti-cyberbullying organisation called Cyber BAAP – Cyber Bullying Action Awareness and Prevention – a portal to educate users on cyber harassment & offer the victims guidance & counselling.
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