Intruders crash in as classes go online again in Kerala
KOCHI: On January 24, a virtual class at a higher secondary school in Kasaragod district was suspended temporarily after a miscreant allegedly appeared half-naked by infiltrating the system using a fake IP address. He had covered his head and face. On noticing his, the teacher immediately directed the students to leave the virtual classroom.
Later, the education department’s regional deputy director at Kasaragod filed a petition before the police after conducting a preliminary inquiry. With the virtual classes resuming after the state government ordered the closure of certain classes following the latest surge in Covid cases, the menace of outsiders’ intrusion into live sessions are back. At a time when schools and colleges have been using video conferencing tools, parents have raised concerns over such intrusions reported from schools across the state.
Earlier, two outside students joined virtual sessions of an aided educational institution in Kottayam through a shared Google Meet link, and disrupted the class and passed abusive comments. The teachers found that a few students shared the links with their friends who are students of another school. “The issue was settled after warning those who shared the links. In many cases, the students themselves are the culprits. An effective system to ensure safety for virtual classes should be implemented,” said a teacher with a private institution.
Cyber security expert Nandakishore Harikumar told TNIE that parents, students and teachers need to strive together to fight the issue. “They need to be careful with whom they share the details of the online class. Every day, new links need to be created and ensure that students do not get a chance to share their screen. There is no single solution to this. Only a combination of our practices and configuring the platforms correctly can protect virtual sessions,” he said.
Meanwhile, ruling out safety concerns, Jeevan Babu K, Director General of Education, said the department has shifted the classes to G-suite, an exclusive platform for online learning in schools. Only authorised students can log in to the classes, and thereby teachers can prevent illegal entry, he said. “However, we are lodging complaints before the police cyber cell concerned when intrusions are reported. With the setting up of G-suite, there is no room for complaints. The new system has not been implemented in Plus One courses as the admissions closed only recently,” he added.
An officer with the Kochi city police cyber cell said many people are intruding virtual classes because of a misunderstanding that they cannot be traced. “In a majority of cases, students themselves are the culprits as they forward the link or the ID and the password to their friends. When a friend asks to show how classes are going on, one may send the link to join the session. The friend, who purportedly intruded, may create a headache,” the officer said.
G-suite
Director General of Education Jeevan Babu said that department has shifted the classes to G-suite, an exclusive platform for online learning in schools. Only authorised students can log in to the classes, and thereby teachers can prevent illegal entry.