In the ever-evolving landscape of cyber warfare, a name that stands as a stalwart defender of peace in cyberspace is Major Vineet Kumar whose story began in Ranchi, Jharkhand where he displayed a powerful aptitude for technology as a child prodigy.
A TEDx speaker and guest instructor at esteemed institutions like the National Police Academy, Railway Staff College and Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi, Kumar's influence in cybersecurity education and training is profound.
At the young age of 16, Kumar floated the pioneering initiative National Anti-Hacking Group (NAG) followed by the Global Association of Ethical Hackers (GEHA). He further went on to be recognised as the youngest Microsoft-certified systems engineer in 2008 and later also received the UN Youth Achievement Award.
Kumar further went on to act as an Advisor to the Jharkhand Government. While at 22, he served as the Chief Technology Officer and Head of State Government Agency, Cyber Defense Research Centre at the Jharkhand Government. He is also a commissioned officer of the Territorial Army.
His academic pursuits led him to Cyber Defence and Information Assurance at Cranfield University and the Joint Services and Staff College in the United Kingdom followed by leadership studies at Cambridge University. Additionally, he expanded his expertise in Cyber Defence through studies at the Geneva Center for Security Policies in Switzerland.
Further, driven by an unwavering commitment to creating a safe cyberspace for netizens, the social entrepreneur founded CyberPeace, presently recognised as the world’s first non-profit organisation dedicated to cybersecurity and think-tank with offices in three countries, impacting over 200 million netizens and stakeholders across 112 nations.
Under his leadership, CyberPeace has launched several groundbreaking initiatives aimed at promoting cybersecurity, fostering digital hygiene and combating cyber threats. Among these initiatives, the CyberPeace Corps stands out as a global community of cybersecurity experts and enthusiasts united in their mission to collaborate and share knowledge to combat cyber threats.
Kumar's leadership has also led to the inception of several impactful programmes and initiatives on the national level like The CyberPeace Initiative, which in collaboration with Google.org aims to tackle misinformation and other cyber security challenges through innovative solutions and partnerships and also create cyber warriors and master trainers.
Global CyberPeace Challenge or GCC happens to be the world’s largest cybersecurity competition with participants from over 120 countries, aims to recognise and award talent that can build solutions to some of the most pressing cybersecurity problems faced by society. The objective of the challenge is to tap into the innovative approaches adopted by participants to solve critical real-world problems in the technical and policy challenges.
Through these initiatives, CyberPeace and Kumar continue to make significant strides in fostering cyber peace and creating a safer digital world for all.
On an international level, Kumar has registered his presence with several Dialogues at the global and national level under the G20 Summit. He also hosted the first ever Global CyberPeace Summit in collaboration with C20 and G20, that featured representation from all across the globe and encouraged dialogues on techno-social issues and presented the CyberPeace protocol 2023 during the G20 presidency.
Kumar's journey embodies a steadfast commitment to promoting cyber peace and creating a safer digital world for all. With over 20 years of experience in the cyber security domain, Kumar also known as the Cyber cowboy of the Red Land is the pioneer of the concept of CyberPeace amongst nations in the proliferating era of cyber warfare when cyber competency has become a competitive advantage for the nations.
The apex bodies in the field of business, governance, social sectors, educational bodies, aviation and bodies affiliated to international organisations, United Nations Youth Assembly have all credited the contributions of Kumar and also ceremonially recognised & awarded his selfless efforts. Kumar is now working on his goal to reach 3 billion netizens by 2030 through his various programmes and initiatives and urges netizens to strive to become more cyber resilient and cybersmart to safeguard not only themselves but also their families and communities.
