Empowering Digital Safety and Women and Child Protection Workshop for Kandy District Officials of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, in collaboration with the Defence[...]

In an era where child protection and the advancement of women's rights are deeply intertwined with the digital world, a vital capacity building and cybersecurity awareness program was successfully conducted on 26^th June 2026 at the Kandy District Secretariat.

This timely initiative was organised under the strategic guidance of the "Clean Sri Lanka" project, utilising the invaluable expertise of the Defence Cyber Command (DCC), Ministry of Defence. The intensive workshop aimed to equip frontline officers with the essential digital safety mechanisms required to protect women and children in the modern digital age.

The workshop saw an exceptional response, bringing together over 92 active participants dedicated to strengthening institutional capacity. The diverse audience included officers from the Women and Child Development Units across all Divisional Secretariats in the Kandy District, and officials from the Kandy District Secretariat itself.

The technical sessions were expertly conducted by Brigadier KVP Dhammika USP ptsc, Director of the Defence Cyber Command, along with a specialised team of cybersecurity experts of the Defence Cyber Command of the Ministry of Defence.

Recognising that theoretical awareness alone cannot stop a live network breach or a sophisticated phishing attempt, the DCC team structured the interactive event around comprehensive live demonstrations and hands-on exercises. Officials from the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, alongside the officials of the District Secretariat of Kandy, were given practical insight into how threat actors operate and how standard administrative workflows can be hardened against intrusion.

The training itinerary fused rigorous technical training with the critical legal frameworks necessary for modern public governance.

• Cyber Security Threats Landscape in the Age of AI and Quantum Technology
• Cyber Security Best Practices: Zero Trust & Daily Digital Hygiene
• Risk Mitigation & Policy: Incident Reporting & Governance
• Live Attack Simulation: Phishing, Social Engineering & Malware
• Cyber Crime: Modus Operandi & Impact on Government Sectors
• Cyber Laws: Legal Frameworks & Institutional Accountability
• Practical Device Security, Configuring MFA & Secure Settings
• Interactive Quiz, Gamified Knowledge Review

The event concluded with an open Q and A session, a collective feedback block, and a formal Vote of Thanks, marking a major step forward in the Women and Child Protection Authority and Ministry of defence strategy to build a proactive, security-first public sector capable of defending state assets against an increasingly complex digital landscape.