“Privacy is dead and social media holds the smoking gun” – Pete Cashmore –

‘E-Shield’ an initiative of the Community Service Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura was a distinguished achievement that helped many individuals. It was mainly built on spreading awareness over the cyber crimes and threats in the society. E-shield was inaugurated under three main phases. A Public Relations Campaign, a webinar and a video series.

The PR campaign commenced with the clear objective of raising awareness over all types of cybercrimes faced by our society relatively in terms of introducing threats that many individuals face in their day-to-day lives.

Cyber-Stalking, Cyberbullying, Password Trafficking, Prohibited/Illegal content, Identity Theft and Social Engineering were topics that were mainly enclosed on.

The posts that were revealed brought out the definitions of these areas and explained the strategies cyber criminals use when performing these statements of attacks. Two series of videos of two known individuals were also shared as a segment of the PR campaign. Mr. Dulinda Perera – Young entrepreneur, Executive director of Ceylon Robotics & Technology Corporation, C.E.O. and Founder of IKON and Mr. TM. Tharindu Amerasekara – Senior lecturer at Wisdom Business Academy, C.E.O. and Founder of TAC Social Media and Digital Design Agency, Motivational speaker and communication skills trainer joined with us to share their viewpoints and knowledge regarding the importance of cybersecurity and cyber threat management to the Sri Lankan society.

The second phase of E-shield was a Webinar built on providing solutions and raising awareness to help understand the complexity of each threat faced in the virtual world.

It was a session that focused on helping the society learn the prevention techniques and all the aspects of staying safe when using the online platform. The webinar took place on the 21^st of November 2020 via zoom and was also broadcasted live on Facebook. This session was conducted with the presence of four dynamic individuals.

• Dr. Thusitha B. Abeysekara – A Senior Lecturer in Law at the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
• Mr. Dushyanth Weeraman -The Director of Studio 48, Recording and Performing Artist, songwriter and Composer
• Chanux Bro – Software Engineer and Social Media Consultant of Sinlix Inc.
• Mr. Nuwan Padmasiri – Officer in Charge, Social Media Unit- CID, Sub Inspector of Police. 

Each of these panelists brought out their points and views on the questions that were presented. Dr. Thusitha B. Abeysekara explained the areas that were mainly based on the laws and ethics that have been and should be stated on cybercrimes under the Srilankan law. Some of the areas that he presented include – The laws that have been imposed in Srilanka to prevent Cybercrimes and threats, laws under data protection and cybersecurity and the acts and statements that overlook the issues of copyright.

He also explained the background and the main measures that a victim should take when faced by a cyber-attack of any form and the steps to be taken to enforce the law against it. He also stated that the unawareness and negligence of digital users paves a path for cyber-attacks and threats and that our safety in the cyber world is just as important as our safety in the physical world.  

Mr. Dushyanth Weeramen presented his view on the privacy issues we face when using social media.  As an active and known individual in society and the virtual world he brought up his experiences and standpoints on how we as day-to-day users and as an artist should react when we come across disturbing and disruptive situations on the internet.

He mainly addressed the areas on how we should take effect on cyber groups like cyberbullies and internet trolls on the internet, and he also stated his views on how cyberstalking and creation of fake accounts become a huge danger in our society. As an artist, Mr. Dushyanth brought up the importance of understanding the copyright laws and aspects that we should uphold when loading our work on the internet.  

Our next panelist, Chanux justified the tactics and measures that a person should take when they use the internet and social media, as well as the measures taken over cyber-attacks that are commonly brought up in the online platform.

He also explained how hackers and cyber criminals bring up their strategies to steal or destroy a person’s identity, and the importance of protecting our personal data when exposed into cyberspace. Furthermore, he explained how our own negligence can lead us to be a victim of cyber-attack and the main procedures and actions that we as a country should take to develop and enhance the matter of Cybersecurity in our society. Chanux also stated that this webinar was a beneficial programme and that its continuation in the future was at utmost of importance.

Mr. Nuwan Padmasiri staged his views and points mainly based on the cybercrimes and the reports that the Sri Lankan police undertake. He explained the types of complaints the police come across related to cybercrimes. Furthermore, he described how the police detects cybercrimes using their technology and the support and service provided by the Sri Lankan Police to keep our society safe from cyber criminals and threats.

He explained the laws regulated over the cyber criminals and the penalties and punishments they face regarding the gravity of their crimes under the laws associated in Sri Lanka. He also presented the contact details and the email address of the Police that help individuals report their statements on the attacks they face in cyberspace. At the end of the webinar the audience presented their questions on the issues faced in the virtual world.

With the end of the two main phases, the project ‘E-shield’ opened a new course towards the awareness of cybersecurity with many requests given by the audience in completion to the main phases.

The new segment of the project was carried out as a series of videos related to cybercrimes and threats. The videos were recorded at Colombo Corporative on 25^th January 2021. This was mainly carried out by the presence of four guest speakers,

• Dr. Thusitha B. Abeysekara – A Senior Lecturer in Law at the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
• Dr. Venura Palihawadana – Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
• Chanux Bro – Software Engineer and Social Media Consultant of Sinlix Inc.
• Mr. Nuwan Padmasiri – Officer in Charge, Social Media Unit- CID, Sub Inspector of Police. 

All the videos were based on providing knowledge and understanding on all cyber related problems our society encounters. Each of the presented speakers placed their points and views and provided deeper understanding to all matters related to cyber threats.

They covered all the aspects varying from the areas of the simple mistakes that the online users carry out, the phycological effects and outcomes a cybercriminal and a victim would go through to the destruction and dreadful results faced by the victims.

E-Shield formed a complete picture on the importance of understanding cyberattacks and threats that our society face. With all the details and views presented at the webinar, the PR campaign, and the video series – every individual who was a part of our project as well as everyone who participated got a clear idea that nothing done online on the World Wide Web is as safe as we think it is. With many problems reached, and many questions answered Project E-shield was regarded as an outstanding project by many and was proposed to continue in the future run.

With that said, this initiative by the Rotaract club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura became a breakthrough to many and turned the pages to countless individuals on the safety issues in cyberspace!

Written by Rtr. Minushi De Silva