(Blog by our Founder)

Aptitude Over Attitude: What Truly Matters in Cyber Security

I was asked a curious question at the CISO6 Cyber Security Excellence Awards: “Do men still compete with you in the field of cyber security?”
It made me pause. Not because I was surprised, but because we are in mid-2025 and this question still reflects outdated perceptions.

My answer was clear. If someone is competing with me on knowledge, I welcome it. In fact, I would go one step further and reach out to that individual, ask questions, learn, and grow. That’s the true spirit of excellence. But if someone approaches with a poor attitude or a misplaced sense of superiority, that stance is often short-lived. Because once I begin to speak, any arrogance tends to give way to humility. That is what aptitude does. It levels the field.

We must move beyond gender-led biases. The future of cyber security, or any field for that matter, must be rooted in capability. Skill, discipline, and performance should be our only metrics. The rest is noise. When we sit across the table, engage in critical national work, or solve deeply sensitive digital crimes, no one stops to ask what gender you belong to. They only care about your ability to deliver.

Over the years, I have been deeply privileged to work with some of the most complex challenges in India. I have trained police forces in naxal and terrorism-affected areas. I have conducted workshops with the Indian Army and assisted law enforcement across the country in tackling forensic cybercrime. The reality is that few people, regardless of gender, have had the kind of exposure or ground experience I have had. That’s not arrogance, it’s a fact built on years of hard, silent work.

So when I walk into a room, I do not walk in hoping to be accepted. I walk in to share, to build, to empower. And more often than not, I am met with respect. Sometimes even awe. That’s the power of deep preparation and consistent delivery. Not gender. Not titles. Just sheer knowledge.

And yes, I was also awarded the CISO6 Cyber Security Excellence recognition!

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#AkanchaSrivastavaFoundation, #AkanchaSrivastava, #CyberSecurity, #WomenInTech, #LeadershipInAction, #GenderNeutrality, #DigitalIndia, #NationFirst, #CyberSafetyMatters

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Eight years ago, Akancha Srivastava Foundation began with a simple mission—to make the digital world safer for everyone. What started as a small initiative has now grown into India’s largest cyber safety movement, impacting countless lives, empowering individuals with knowledge, and standing by those who need help the most.

This journey hasn’t been easy. There have been challenges, tough conversations, and moments that tested our resilience. But it has also been deeply fulfilling—witnessing lives change, hearing stories of strength, and knowing that our work has made a real impact.

Over the years, we have worked alongside law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, and corporate partners to ensure that cyber safety is not just a conversation but a well-structured, actionable effort. From conducting awareness sessions to offering legal guidance, from training officers to supporting victims, every step has been focused on creating a stronger, more secure digital environment.

The rise of sophisticated cyber threats has made this mission more urgent than ever. As the digital world evolves, so must our strategies. We remain committed to expanding our reach, strengthening our support systems, and continuously innovating to stay ahead of emerging risks.

To everyone who has been part of this mission—our experts, law enforcement partners, volunteers, and most importantly, those who trusted us in their most vulnerable moments—thank you. This is not just one person’s journey; it belongs to all of us.

Here’s to continuing the fight for a safer digital future. Eight years down, a lifetime to go!

#ASF8Years #CyberSafetyForAll #India

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Glad to share that SBI Foundation has come on board under their CSR Initiative for a series of workshops to be organised by ‘Akancha Srivastava Foundation’. These workshops will include Mumbai, Pune & rest of Maharashtra law enforcement.

Cyber crime investigation is a critical aspect of understand modus operandi of criminals online and finding newest & fastest ways to get to them . Our panel of highly skilled investigators will be conducting these interactive trainings where we will address cases received by different city police and exhibiting tools/techniques to close them.

SBI is the largest Indian Bank with 1/4th market share, serves over 48 crore customers through its vast network of over 22,405 branches, 65,627 ATMs/ADWMs, 76,089 BC outlets. When an institution like SBI steps forward to build a cyber secure India, its’ a turning point in the effort as it shows will of a robust brand like them to build proactive measures to give back to the country, protect their customers.

We look forward to a long term, fruitful partnership together.

Jai Hind

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We are delighted to have Mohit Chauhan join us in the mentor panel. His expertise in banking & related financial fields has been an asset for us in the last few years when has advised us continuously as a friend and proven to be an excellent sound board for the cause.

We also take Mohit’s take on our communication designs seriously. It gives us a different perspective on how the content is being consumed by public at large, especially in corporate or those who may or may not be paying active attention to the topic on a daily basis.

Profile– Mohit is a senior transaction banking leader & professional with 16+ years of Sales & Product management experience across multinational banks in India. He is currently assuming the role of Associate Director & Regional head of Transaction Banking Sales with BNP Paribas India and with his team, works closely with corporates to identify and address efficiency items in their operating flows viz Cash Management, Trade Finance, Supply Chain and Transaction-Digitalization.

Prior to this, he has worked with banks like DBS, Deutsche and HSBC which have been at the forefront of technological evolution of banking in India. As a career transaction banker, Mohit has been involved in the transformation initiatives across the roles, in line with the vision of corporate India.

By the virtue of his line of work, he has been a close-quarter participant in the digital-revolution that the country is experiencing and is personally a huge fan of P2E (Paper to Electronic).

Digitalization is very close to his heart and thus whether in his work or in his personal ecosystem, he has been a vocal change-agent to make people get comfortable with this new world order where most of what we do, will have an incrementally greater mix of online vis a vis offline. While this shift is supremely rewarding, the downsides are also incumbent and thus the vision of a safer cyber-world for everyone is at the very fulcrum of his endeavors. He is an ardent admirer of data-led leadership & decision-making and truly believes that technology is going to be the biggest differentiator in future. Another paradigm that he is keenly observing and is intrigued by is Sustainability and is consistently thinking of ways to integrate the same in business and personal prerogatives.

Mohit is reasonably well-read and equally curious about the country and global landscape, be it economic, technological, geopolitical or literary. In between the work routine, he prefers to read, travel and work towards holistic fitness.

We thank Mohit for join us in our efffort to build a safer online space for everyone at Akancha Srivastava Foundation. Stronger Together

Jai Bharat, Jai HInd

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We are delighted to welcome Nitin Sethi as a mentor to ‘Akancha Srivastava Foundation’.

Nitin Sethi is the Chief Digital Officer of Consumer Businesses at Adani group and Founding Leader of Adani Digital Labs. He has been a long time well wisher of our work & always had encouraging words for our initiatives. His special intention to give back to the community perfectly overlaps our mission. The fact that he has led digital transformations across large brands is an invaluable asset to our pursuit in using digital media for creating educational impact.

Nitin is a very approachable, affable person who is also a well respected industry leader at a. young age. Nitin continues to mentor many aspiring entrepreneurs & start-ups and has also invested in several of them.

Design Thinking & Digital Transformation being close to his heart, he has shared his extensive knowledge on many public forums as a speaker and has authored several articles as well.

Nitin’s experience of over two decades in creating digital platforms & businesses has had a huge measurable impact on brands like Naukri, 99acres, Shiksha, Quikr, Yatra, Travel Guru, Indiatimes, Rediff, and Bharti Airtel. He scaled up the 6EDigital for Indigo prior to joining the Adani group.

He is a curious design thinker who believes in driving growth & innovation through enhancing productivity, empowering & upskilling employees, and sharpening processes & operations to craft business models for excellence.

We are thankful to have him on board & look forward to creating safer online spaces, together.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat

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ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

‘Akancha Against Harassment’ is India’s largest social impact initiative against cyber harassment. It was founded by Miss Akancha Srivastava in February 2017. Its a not-for-profit Section 8 organization.

Honorary Board of advisors

Foundation’s advisory board hosts – Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Founder & CEO- Paytm), ADG Navniet Sekera (Uttar Pradesh), Special IG Krishna Prakash (Maharashtra), Dr Poonam Verma (Principal- SSCBS, Delhi University)

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 65+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

We run India’s only private national multilingual AI chat helpline for cyber safety. This helpline is currently available in Hindi & English on our website. It can be accessed from any internet enabled device. You can chat here anonymously, fearlessly.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

CONTACT US:

Website: www.akanchasrivastava.org

Email: TeamAkancha@gmail.com

Twitter: @AkanchaS

https://twitter.com/AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

https://www.instagram.com/akanchas/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/akanchasrivastava1

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/akanchasrivastava/

The post Mission, Vision, Goals #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

The post Akancha Against Harassment Turns 5! #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Kanchan Kumar, Co Founder- ‘Truly Financial’ has been a pillar of support for the initiative right from day 1 especially during challenging times.

We are glad to have a soundboard like him in our ‘Good Karma Circle’ to keep us aligned with the purpose.

You can follow Kanchan Kumar HERE

The post Kanchan Kumar Joins Our ‘Good Karma Circle’ appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

This is a broad overview of what we do. Please do look at “About Us” section & Foundation page to know more.

CONTACT US:

Website: www.akanchasrivastava.org

Email: TeamAkancha@gmail.com

Twitter: @AkanchaS

https://twitter.com/AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

https://www.instagram.com/akanchas/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/akanchasrivastava1

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/akanchasrivastava/

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

‘Akancha Against Harassment’ is India’s largest social impact initiative against cyber harassment. It was founded by Miss Akancha Srivastava in February 2017. Its a not for profit Section 8 organisation.

Honorary Board of advisors

Foundation’s board hosts – Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Founder- Paytm), ADG Navniet Sekera (Uttar Pradesh), IG Krishna Prakash (Maharashtra), Ritesh Malik (Founder- Innov8), Princess Diya (MP- Rajsamand).

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 50+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

We run India’s only multilingual AI chat helpline for cyber safety. This helpline is currently available in Hindi & English on our website. It can be accessed from any internet enabled device. You can chat here anonymously, fearlessly.

We do not track ISPs unless you trigger an SOS to Akancha in any crisis situation.

We encourage you to please watch our videos, go to our website, arm yourself with knowledge. Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

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