The world of true crime has exploded in popularity, thanks to a wave of podcasts, documentaries, and books inspired by real-life cases. Online sleuthing communities, driven by the thrill of solving mysteries, reopen cold cases and piece together clues from behind their screens. But few turn their interest into a full-time profession.
Sydney-based Nakshathra Suresh did.
From helping businesses tackle tech-facilitated crimes to advocating for ethical digital safety, she transformed her passion into a mission: making the online world safer for all.
“As a proud woman of colour, with English being my third language, I am inspired to create a safer digital world for everyone, regardless of their skill or ability to navigate online environments,” Nakshathra tells Indian Link. “I advocate for the marginalised groups that I am part of, and elevate the voices of those in other groups who do not have the ability to do so.”
Her approach to digital safety is rooted in her lived experience – at a young age, Nakshathra experienced cyberbullying. Nakshathra Suresh
“Through my years of watching Bones, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Criminal Minds, I transferred from psychology to criminology in the middle of my first year at university,” she says. “In my postgraduate degree in criminology, I chose to work on stranger-based stalking and cyberstalking in Australia for my research dissertation.”
Today, Nakshathra is considerably younger than most of the other voices in the digital safety landscape. Last year, she was named finalist for the ‘Emerging Leader’ in Tech category at the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.
“Sometimes, you forget the impact of the work you are doing, and then something incredible like an award nomination comes your way, and you think, ‘Oh, I’m actually being recognised’,” she says, adding she was “super thrilled” to receive the recognition.
Building eiris, helping humans
Nakshathra is the co-founder of eiris – a tech consultancy firm that helps companies put humans at the centre of their technology.
The idea for eiris came after many conversations with founders and investors. “I realised that Australia was far behind the ‘adopting technology safely’ movement that I had seen being discussed in America and Europe,” she explains. “We also realised that small to medium businesses did not have enough money or resources to invest in safety initiatives, even when they were passionate about ensuring their customers and consumers were not harmed by their services.” Nakshathra Suresh
Ranging from physical wearables, instances of online sexual harassment to over-reliance on AI chatbots, eiris helps founders understand the human impact of integrating these types of tech – which can vary from ethical, psychological, social and criminal outcomes.
“We help empower companies to feel more confident about using tech and help them understand the consequences of failing to implement risk mitigation strategies.”
Cybersecurity and criminology are often seen as male-dominated fields, but Nakshathra lets her work do the talking to break these stereotypes.
“While there are plenty of women who are software engineers, developers and technical experts in this space, there is a very small number of female and non-binary social scientists, psychologists, criminologists and philosophers who take up room in this field. This might be a bit of a hot take, but I do believe the South Asian community looks down upon those who pursue careers in the arts or social sciences,” she shares, strongly advocating for creating and forging one’s own career.
“I think it is extremely important for young women who are passionate about cyber to consider all the various career paths that they can take, and not just stick to social norms and be afraid of pulling that chair out at the table! The key is to advocate for yourself.”
Today, Nakshathra is a frequent speaker at public forums on a wide variety of topics, including ethics, harm reduction principles, Metaverse and AI.
“If I didn’t find power in being a minority, both race and gender-wise, this type of success would have never found me!” she says, smiling.
Changing the face of cyber criminology
Very recently, Nakshathra’s alma mater UNSW asked her to build a curriculum for a third-year criminology course, in conjunction with law and engineering concepts.
“In June this year, UNSW will introduce an elite course called ‘CRIM3040: Criminological Perspectives for Cyber Security’, which will introduce criminology and criminal justice students to the multifaceted realm of cybersecurity, exploring its core elements within the context of criminological, legal, policy, and regulatory frameworks. It is the first of its kind to be offered in the undergraduate criminology program, which means there will be more cyber criminologists and inter-disciplinary scholars in the future!”
The cyber threats faced by women in Australia are often sophisticated.
“The trends we see involve less of stranger-based abuse and more of intimate partner violence, as the rates of domestic violence are devastating in this country. The rates of reporting in Australia also fare significantly better than India, where underreporting is rampant. India, and the Global South overall, have weaker protections and infrastructure, and has poorer economic conditions in which their governments and societies operate. Women in Australia are also likely to have used different types of digital platforms than those in India, where there is a struggle to even gain access to the internet in regional areas.”
Nakshathra’s work requires tackling difficult, sometimes traumatic cases. But there has never been a lack of motivation for her to continue her work.
“In fact, what drives me is the collective failure of the world to protect those who are most vulnerable to cybercrime.” Nakshathra Suresh
Read Also: Prashant Singh: “Organisations must foster a culture of cybersecurity awareness”
