Ghost in the Machine: Navigating Self-Driving Threats

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasises the transformative role of digital technology in education and highlights the need for its effective and responsible integration to improve access, equity, and quality, while ensuring safe and ethical use of digital platforms. In alignment with this vision, NCF-SE 2023 (Part B, Section 6.4) brings cyber safety and security as integral to digital literacy and digital citizenship. It emphasises that learners need to develop practical competencies to recognise and respond to online risks such as cyberbullying, phishing, identity theft, and exposure to inappropriate or misleading content. The framework highlights the importance of protecting personal data, understanding privacy settings, and making informed choices while sharing information online. It also stresses the need for critical thinking skills to evaluate the credibility of digital content, identify misinformation, and distinguish between authentic and manipulated information.

In the current educational scenario, the rapid expansion of digital learning and online platforms has enhanced access and innovation, but has also introduced challenges such as cyber threats, deepfakes, data breaches, misuse of digital tools, and concerns related to academic integrity, making cyber safety and responsible technology use essential. These risks directly impact student safety and learning, with issues like cyberbullying, manipulation through synthetic media, and data leakage through unverified platforms requiring greater awareness. Such challenges also call for more authentic assessment practices and informed professional judgment. To address emerging cyber risks, a multi-level approach is required involving teachers, schools, learners, parents, and the education system. Teachers play a central role in this process by integrating cyber safety, digital ethics, and data privacy into regular teaching, guiding students towards safe online behaviour, critical evaluation of digital content, and early identification of digital risks. Through this, they can proactively equip learners with critical thinking skills and responsible digital behaviours, ensuring a safer and more secure learning environment. Schools can further support these efforts through structured digital citizenship programmes, awareness initiatives, and clear mechanisms for reporting cyber incidents. Together, these measures strengthen cyber safety awareness and promote responsible digital engagement across the learning ecosystem.

In this context, CIET-NCERT is organising an online training on “Ghost in the Machine: Navigating Self-Driving Threats” to build awareness and capacity among teachers, students, teacher educators and other stakeholders. The training aims to deepen understanding of emerging AI-driven cyber threats, promote safe and ethical digital practices, and strengthen cyber defence strategies to ensure a secure and responsible digital ecosystem for all learners.