A course launched 20 years ago by the Department of Criminology at the University of Madras has rewarded its students.
The department head R. Thilagaraj said the department created a postgraduate diploma in cyber forensics and information security for company officials in 2004 for company officials and police. The second year, it was converted to a PG degree program due to the good response.
“Cybersecurity was a freshman at the time. Some organizations we visited asked them why they needed it.” In 2007, when the first batch graduated, the company was hesitant.
S. Latha, the current director of the Centre for Cyber Forensics and Information Security, the course’s founder coordinator said the first graduates are now employed in international banks. Up to 750 students have graduated so far.
She added that in 2009, the centre was upgraded to a centre of excellence as a centre of excellence, with the government allocating Rs 1 crore and, with the consent of the then governor, became an independent department.
Tuition is 8,500 rupees. The course covers all aspects of cybercriminology, information security, digital forensics and information security audits, covering the latest trends in the domain.
“The course provides 100% placement for corporate housing, software companies, information security auditing companies, banks, telecommunications industry and financial institutions. “Our alumni are placed in Google, Ernst and Young, Deloitte, HCL, Infosys, Infosys, Infosys, Infosys, and even government agencies,” Ms. Latha said, which also set up a network legal entity lab.
Students conduct research in important areas of cybersecurity and digital forensics. Recently, under the Rusa Arumbu project, a student was awarded seed funding to determine the authenticity of videos, audios and images generated by AI. “Many students are committed to identifying phishing links, forging information, ransomware attacks,” Ms. Latha said.
The syllabus was designed by industry experts who, in addition to participating in placement, also took courses. She added: “As cybercrime rise and most cases in the future may be related to cybercrime, the government should consider recruiting at least a certain percentage of police officers and having a master’s degree in cyber forensics and information security in the technology sector.”
Students like Mohamed Thalal, Farheen Fathima and Vikram T, who graduated from BCA and joined the program, have now secured a nice salary during campus placement.
Students work on a project each semester and their final paper is based on the company's real-time questions. Customer teacher C. Vishnupriya said the industry experts on the team help understand real-life problems. “When students come up with solutions, they are also grateful,” she said.
publishing – May 6, 2025 at 12:24 AM IST
