Asking citizens to be cautious while being online, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval said on Friday financial frauds have seen exponential increase due to greater dependence on digital payment platforms following the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also said the Centre was coming up with the National cyber security Strategy – 2020 which envisions the safe, secured, trusted, resilient and vibrant cyberspace for India’s prosperity.

He was delivering a lecture on Cyber security virtually at the COCONXIII-2020, a data privacy and hacking conference hosted by the Kerala Police and the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace and Information Security Research Association.

According to him, there is a change in the work environment that has been brought upon by the pandemic.

“There is a greater dependence on digital payment platform due to reduced cash handling and greater data sharing is happening online and presence on social media have also increased. While we are able to manage our affairs online to a certain extent, malicious actors also found in it, a new opportunity,” Doval said.

Doval said there was an increase of 500 per cent in cyber crimes due to limited awareness and cyber hygiene.

“Financial frauds have seen exponential increase due to greater dependence on digital payment platforms. The adversaries are tempted to exploit the crisis situation through various misinformation, fake news etc. The huge cyber data floating in the cyber space is a gold mine for extracting information that can undermine the privacy of our citizens..,” Doval said.

He cautioned citizens while being online and said a responsible approach should be there while using internet.

The NSA complimented the state government and the Kerala police for the initiative.

Inaugurating the conference, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said with the increased reliance on the internet becoming a permanent feature of people’s lives due to COVID- 19, citizens need to be extra cautious while being online.

This edition of the conference was on the virtual platform this year due to the pandemic scenario .

“Various types of cyber crimes are happening in our country and it’s high time that we take proper precautions against such crimes…,” Khan said.

Senior police officials, including state police chief Loknath Behera, participated on the first day of the two-day conference.