The DGP also outlined Kerala Police’s ongoing efforts to boost cyber awareness through school and college outreach programmes, digital safety campaigns, and joint exercises with national and international agencies
Opening India’s flagship international cybersecurity and hacking conference, c0c0n 2025, Kerala Director General of Police Ravada Chandrasekhar underscored that cybersecurity has moved beyond being a purely technical concern to become a cornerstone of national security and governance.
Addressing more than 3,000 delegates from 32 countries, Chandrasekhar said that while the digital revolution has transformed public service delivery, it has also vastly expanded the nation’s vulnerability to cyber threats.
“Cybersecurity is now an integral part of governance. As emergency response systems and citizen services are digitised, our attack surface widens. Cyberattacks today are not isolated events they are organised and have the potential to disrupt entire nations,” he said.
Chandrasekhar warned that digital infrastructure now underpins critical sectors such as finance, healthcare, education, and public utilities, and that any compromise could escalate into a governance crisis.
“These attacks are not random; they are structured, organised, and often designed to destabilise nations. It’s time we view cybercrime not as a peripheral issue but as a central challenge to public safety,” he added.
Highlighting Kerala’s leadership in collaborative cybersecurity initiatives, Chandrasekhar pointed to Cyberdome, the state’s public-private partnership (PPP) model that has become a benchmark across India. He emphasised the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, industry, academia, and citizens to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
“No one can fight cybercrime alone. c0c0n stands for collaboration. It is not a policing conference — it’s a platform where experts, policymakers, and innovators come together to deliberate on threats and solutions,” he said.
The DGP also outlined Kerala Police’s ongoing efforts to boost cyber awareness through school and college outreach programmes, digital safety campaigns, and joint exercises with national and international agencies.
Following his address, Manoj Abraham, Director General of Police and Director of the Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Bureau, reaffirmed the collaborative spirit of the event.
“This is not just a police event. c0c0n is a global platform where government agencies, private sector leaders, and researchers share knowledge and shape cyber policy together,” Abraham said.
He noted that the Cyberdome model has become a national success story, with most Indian states now adopting similar frameworks for proactive cybercrime detection and prevention. Abraham also highlighted Kerala’s integration of artificial intelligence into digital policing.
“Students and techies with AI expertise are actively supporting crime detection and analysis. AI is going to play an even bigger role in the future of law enforcement,” he said.
Both officers emphasised that as AI-driven scams, deepfakes, and automated attacks proliferate, the need for advanced tools and stronger collaboration is critical.
“Cybersecurity has become part of our daily lives. As technology evolves, we must ensure that our defences evolve faster,” Abraham concluded.