CyberPeace: Leading The Charge For A Safer, More Secure Digital World

CyberPeace is a global cybersecurity organization dedicated to enhancing digital resilience through research, policy advocacy, and capacity-building initiatives. With operations in 130 countries and a track record of assisting over 35,000 cybercrime victims, CyberPeace is at the forefront of addressing emerging cyber threats.

“AI and emerging technologies are revolutionizing cybersecurity by enhancing threat detection, automating responses, and improving digital forensics,” says Major Vineet Kumar, Global President and Founder of CyberPeace, in an exclusive interaction with Bizz Buzz.

As cyber threats evolve, CyberPeace is committed to promoting ethical AI, strengthening cyber diplomacy, and collaborating with governments, law enforcement, and private organizations to create a secure digital ecosystem. The organization’s CyberPeace Initiative, supported by Google.org, aims to train over 40 million internet users in digital literacy and online safety

AI and emerging technologies are reshaping cybersecurity. What are the biggest opportunities and risks they present?

AI and emerging technologies are revolutionizing cybersecurity by enhancing threat detection, automating responses, and improving digital forensics. Advanced threat detection systems powered by AI predict and identify sophisticated cyber threats faster than traditional methods. Continuous learning algorithms ensure up-to-date defence mechanisms, while automated response protocols mitigate risks in real time. AI is also enabling privacy-preserving techniques to enhance data protection.

However, AI also introduces significant risks. AI-powered misinformation and deepfakes create chaos by making it harder to distinguish fake content from real, impacting politics, finance, and personal security. AI-enhanced phishing attacks and social engineering increase cybercrime, while adversarial machine learning attacks manipulate AI models to generate false positives.

The misuse of AI by cybercriminals for deepfake scams, voice cloning, and targeted cyberattacks is a growing challenge. We encourage balancing AI automation with human oversight, ethical AI development, and robust regulations. Additionally, global cooperation is essential to harness AI’s benefits while mitigating its threats.

What is CyberPeace’s vision for the next five years, and what major initiatives are in the pipeline to strengthen global cyber resilience?

We envision a future where digital trust, online safety, and cyber resilience are integral to society. Over the next five years, we aim to expand our impactful initiatives through strategic partnerships, policy advocacy, and cutting-edge research to address emerging cyber threats and challenges.

Our CyberPeace initiative, supported by Google.org, seeks to equip over 40 million internet users across India, including vulnerable communities, with critical digital literacy in the online information landscape. We are also committed to strengthening the CyberPeace Centre of Excellence (CCoE), fostering research on AI ethics, cyber policy, misinformation detection, and digital rights protection, and ensuring that technological advancements align with security and ethical considerations.

Recognizing the importance of global cooperation, CyberPeace will continue engaging with governments, law enforcement agencies, multilateral organizations, and private-sector partners to enhance cyber diplomacy, shape policy frameworks, and build capacity. Further, the organisation aims to expand the CyberPeace helpline and incident response network to provide more robust real-time support, digital forensics assistance, and cybersecurity response services to victims of cybercrime. We aim to establish a strong global presence, expanding its operational base in every continent to achieve its larger vision of a safer, more secure, and inclusive digital ecosystem for everyone.

With cyber threats impacting individuals, businesses, and governments alike, what steps can organizations take to enhance their cybersecurity posture?

To strengthen India's cybersecurity posture, organizations need to adopt a mission-driven approach. Dedicated resources and budget for organisational cybersecurity, capacity building efforts, trained task force, incident response team, threat intelligence tools to detect potential breaches, zero-trust security models, and recovery plans are essential to be established and implemented. Organisations need to focus on proactive defence, indigenous cybersecurity technology development, and workforce expansion.

The Indian government, by recognizing the growing importance of cybersecurity and the digital landscape, has already taken proactive steps in reforming legal and policy frameworks. Initiatives such as intermediary rules, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023), and the India AI Mission aim to address emerging threats and create a regulated landscape for protection.

The implementation of sector-specific cybersecurity mandates will ensure resilience in critical sectors such as power, finance, healthcare, and defence. Compliance with the applicable data protection laws is also essential to safeguard the interests of individuals and organizations. CyberPeace helps businesses and institutions by providing customized cybersecurity training, policy recommendations, and AI-driven risk assessments. CyberPeace has also collaborated with financial institutions and platforms like Amazon and Netflix to develop awareness toolkits against cyber fraud.

What advice would you give to individuals to protect themselves in an increasingly digital world?

In today’s digital landscape, personal cybersecurity is as important as physical security. Netizens should be aware of their rights in the digital space. It's important to know where to report issues, how to raise concerns with platforms, and what rights are available to you under applicable IT and Data Protection laws.

Awareness serves as the first line of defence, especially in light of the lessons learned from recent growing threats such as digital arrests, romance frauds, lottery scams, and investment scams that have become more prevalent. It is important to remember that sophisticated cyber scams require equally advanced strategies to stay protected. Netizens are advised to stay updated with specific strategies and hygiene tips to defend themselves.

Further, remember that we are in the technological era, and these technologies are created for our ease and convenience. There are certain challenges that bad actors pose, but to counter this, the change starts from you. While technology has its risks, it also brings tremendous benefits to society.

Cyber threats are evolving rapidly - what are the biggest cybersecurity challenges the world is facing today, and how is CyberPeace addressing them?

Cybersecurity threats today range from ransomware attacks, data breaches, misinformation, AI-driven cyber threats, financial fraud through various means and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. The rise of deepfake scams, AI-powered phishing, and cyber warfare poses unprecedented challenges for individuals, businesses, and nations.

The expansion of the dark web, online child exploitation, and identity theft further complicate digital security. CyberPeace actively addresses these challenges through research, policy advocacy, threat intelligence, and digital literacy programs. Initiatives like the CyberPeace Quick Reaction Team (CQRT) provide real-time threat intelligence, CyberPeace e-Kawach initiative helps track and mitigate cyberattacks. We closely works with government, law enforcement agencies, global industry partners, multilateral organizations under UN agencies and academia to enhance cyber resilience worldwide.

With operations in 130 countries and over 35,000 cybercrime victims assisted, what have been some of CyberPeace’s most impactful initiatives?

With operations in 130 countries and over 35,000 cybercrime victims assisted, the organisation has emerged as a global thought leader in cybersecurity. The organization has impacted over 200 million netizens through its wide-reaching initiatives. CyberPeace actively collaborates with Global Compact Network India, Ransomware Task Force, We Protect Global Alliance, Coalition Against Stalkerware, ICANN, UN agencies, as well as tech platforms like Google and Meta, and multiple government entities. Through its in-house initiatives, the organisation provides capacity-building and tailored educational content, developed through case-by-case needs assessments, to strengthen cyber resilience against cybercrimes and attacks.

The organization has led collaborations with top tech firms and academic institutions to develop next-gen cybersecurity tools leveraging AI and machine learning. CyberPeace has played a crucial role in national and international cybersecurity policy discussions, working closely with multilateral institutions to advocate for cybersecurity policies including recently enacted DPDP Act, of 2023. These efforts have contributed to key policy changes that have fortified global cybersecurity frameworks, enhancing digital infrastructure worldwide.

Collaboration is key in cybersecurity. Can you share insights on CyberPeace’s partnerships with governments, law enforcement agencies, and private organizations?

CyberPeace fosters collaboration across government bodies, global organizations, tech companies, and law enforcement agencies to strengthen cyber resilience. These partnerships focus on capacity building, cyber policy advocacy, threat intelligence sharing, and law enforcement training to combat cybercrime effectively.

CyberPeace has partnered with the Government of India, the National Commission for Women (NCW), the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), Ministry of External Affairs, LEA’s like Delhi Police, West Bengal Police, Bihar Police, and various other state police departments to conduct training programs and awareness campaigns on cybercrime investigation and digital safety.

Its collaboration with UN agencies like UNESCO, UN Women, UNODC, and global organizations like ICANN has helped drive international cyber policy discussions. CyberPeace works with international universities like Indiana University and UNSW Sydney to advance cybersecurity research and digital resilience. Additionally, CyberPeace is actively engaged in cybersecurity capacity building and training on a global scale.

In the private sector, we work with the likes of Google, Meta, Amazon, WhatsApp, Koo, Snapchat, Netflix etc. on digital literacy, misinformation countermeasures, and fraud prevention campaigns. Its CyberPeace Initiative, backed by Google.org, aims to train over 40 million internet users in resilience against misinformation. Moreover, CyberPeace engages with academia, including IIT Patna, National Law University Delhi, and Rashtriya Raksha University etc. to develop cybersecurity curriculums and research projects. All these collaborations ensure a multi-stakeholder approach to cybersecurity, fostering a safer digital ecosystem globally.

What role does public awareness and education play in building a safer digital ecosystem, and how is CyberPeace contributing to this?

Public awareness of cybersecurity is the need of the hour. It is critical to ensuring secure online behaviour, combating misinformation, and preventing various types of cyber fraud. Educating citizens about password security, phishing scams, digital privacy, and social media risks can significantly reduce cyber threats.

The organisation has launched nationwide digital literacy programs, including Digital Shakti, which empowers women and girls with online safety skills, and eRaksha, which engages students, teachers, and parents in cybersecurity awareness through creative competitions. CyberPeace initiated CyberPeace TV for mass awareness and hosted events like the Ranchi Cyclothon and mental health awareness run to promote digital well-being. We believe that crowdsourcing cyber awareness initiatives can bridge the gap by leveraging collective knowledge and community-driven efforts.

Our flagship program ‘CyberPeace Corps’ - Cyber First Responders and its huge volunteer base are actively working on empowering netizens to build cyber resilience. Netizens can connect with CyberPeace Corps and learn more about how to identify red flags of such manipulative tactics used by cybercriminals and how to stay safe in the digital world.