Telangana: Comic book hero to help kids fight cybercrime

TS Police is distributing comics in schools as part of the online CybHER campaign which aims at making cyberspace safe for women and children

Hyderabad: From Superman to Batman and Spiderman to Iron Man, superheroes in comics have always inspired millions. Taking a cue from the same, with the objective of raising awareness about cybercrime among children, the Telangana Police is distributing Hanubot comics in schools across the State.

The English comic has the first Indian cyber superhero, Hanubot, who helps a girl trapped by a cyber-blackmailer. Pinki, the school girl, who loves uploading her pictures on social media, is threatened by a cyber-bully, who hacks her computer to gain access to her personal data.

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The comic is distributed in schools as part of the ongoing CybHER campaign — an online cyber awareness attempt to make cyberspace safe for women and children. Sharing details, B Sumathi, DIG (CID Women Protection Cell), says: “The State saw a rise in women-related cybercrime during the pandemic. That’s when we felt the need to introduce children to the concept so as to raise awareness against cybercrime.”

Developed by the Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (ISAC), Hanubot has been around for a few years and has been used by police departments of other States as well to raise awareness about various cybercrimes.

“While we conduct awareness programmes and have other books available to distribute, we wanted to give children something that was both educative and entertaining. Hence we chose this comic. Teachers and parents have given us quite a positive feedback for our steps,” Sumathi says.

The comic stresses on the need for having secure and different passwords for different accounts. It also encourages victims to talk to their parents about the situation and report the crime without hesitation.

Apart from the comic, the Telangana Women Safety Wing has also collaborated with the Symbiosis Law School to develop other material for kids to understand various cybercrimes such as identity theft, trolling, cyber-bullying and monetary scams.

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