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How to Contribute

Welcome to the Cybervattam Contributor Guide

Cybervattam is an open, community-driven knowledge library built to make cybersecurity, internet safety, and emerging technology accessible in Indian languages. Whether you want to write a new lesson, refine an existing translation, or propose better vernacular technical terms, this guide walks you through everything you need to get started.

1. Ways You Can Contribute

  1. Improve or Proofread a Translation: Spot an awkward phrase, typo, or mistranslated technical term in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, or Kannada? Submit a quick fix via GitHub.
  2. Translate an Existing Lesson: Pick any English article in site/content.en/ and localize it into your native language.
  3. Author a New Lesson or Diagram: Write a new guide on cybersecurity, digital hygiene, or emerging technologies, or localize an SVG diagram into an Indian script.
  4. Suggest a “Term of the Week”: Propose a clear vernacular equivalent and real-world analogy in site/static/data/terms-of-the-week.json.

2. Repository & Content Directory Structure

All lessons and pages are written in Markdown (.md) and organized by language inside the site/ directory. Every language folder mirrors the exact same directory path and file names so Hugo can link translations together automatically:

cybervattam.github.io/
└── site/
    ├── content.en/                  # English (Primary source content)
    │   ├── _index.md                # Homepage intro content
    │   ├── events/                  # Community events & workshops
    │   └── library/                 # Main knowledge library
    │       ├── cyberawareness/      # Pillar 1: Cyber Awareness
    │       │   ├── cyberhygine/     #   Device, password & internet safety
    │       │   ├── familysafety/    #   Safety guides by age group
    │       │   └── topscamsfrauds/  #   Phishing, OTP, UPI & AI scams
    │       ├── cybersecurity/       # Pillar 2: Cybersecurity Core
    │       │   ├── cloudsecurity/   #   Cloud security, CSPM, CNAPP, ZTNA
    │       │   ├── cryptography/    #   Encryption, hashing & digital signatures
    │       │   ├── dns/             #   DNS hierarchy, records, DNSSEC, DoH/DoT
    │       │   ├── iam/             #   Authentication, MFA, OAuth, SAML, OIDC
    │       │   ├── icann-iana/      #   Internet governance & numbering
    │       │   ├── pki/             #   Certificates, CAs & TLS
    │       │   └── zerotrust/       #   Zero Trust architecture & principles
    │       ├── emergingtech/        # Pillar 3: Emerging Technologies
    │       │   ├── blockchain/      #   Distributed ledgers & consensus
    │       │   ├── cloud/           #   Cloud service & deployment models
    │       │   ├── digitalassets/   #   Crypto wallets, custody & CBDCs
    │       │   └── ipv6/            #   IPv6 addressing & transition
    │       └── aboutus/             # About Us, Contribute, Contributors, Team
    │
    ├── content.ta/                  # Tamil (தமிழ்) — mirrors content.en/ paths
    ├── content.hi/                  # Hindi (हिन्दी) — mirrors content.en/ paths
    ├── content.ml/                  # Malayalam (മലയാളം) — mirrors content.en/ paths
    ├── content.te/                  # Telugu (తెలుగు) — mirrors content.en/ paths
    ├── content.kn/                  # Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) — mirrors content.en/ paths
    │
    ├── i18n/                        # UI strings (en.toml, ta.toml, hi.toml, etc.)
    └── static/
        ├── data/
        │   └── terms-of-the-week.json  # Rotating homepage terminology pairs
        └── images/                  # Diagrams & illustrations (en/, ta/, shared/)

Markdown Frontmatter Template

Every Markdown lesson starts with YAML frontmatter that controls its title, ordering (weight), and topic tags:

---
title: 'Introduction to Cryptography'
date: 2026-10-13
draft: false
weight: 1
verified: true
tags: ["Cybersecurity", "Cryptography"]
---

### Introduction to Cryptography

Write your lesson content here using standard Markdown headings, bullet lists, tables, and images.

Important Rule: Keep the filename (e.g., cryptography-introduction.md) in English across all content.<lang>/ folders so the language switcher on every article can map directly between languages.

3. Translation Guidelines for Technical Jargon (Transliteration vs. Translation)

Translating technology into Indian languages requires balancing conceptual clarity with real-world usability. A purely literal word-for-word translation can confuse practitioners, while pure English transliteration fails to explain the underlying concept.

Follow this three-part rule when localizing technical terms:

A. Translate Core Concepts + Include the English Term on First Mention

When a technical concept has a meaningful, natural native equivalent, use the vernacular term first and place the English term in parentheses on first mention. This builds native vocabulary while keeping the industry-standard term searchable.

English ConceptRecommended ApproachExample (Tamil)Example (Hindi)
EncryptionNative concept + (Encryption) on 1st useமறையாக்கம் (Encryption)गूढ़लेखन / एन्क्रिप्शन (Encryption)
PhishingDescriptive native term + (Phishing)தூண்டில் மோசடி (Phishing)जालसाज़ी संदेश (Phishing)
Multi-Factor AuthenticationNative concept + (MFA)பல்காரணி சான்றுறுதி (MFA)बहु-कारक प्रमाणीकरण (MFA)
Zero TrustNative concept + (Zero Trust)பூஜ்ஜிய நம்பிக்கை (Zero Trust)शून्य विश्वास (Zero Trust)
Brute-Force AttackMeaning-based translation (never literal “rude attack”)தொடர் முயற்சித் தாக்குதல் (Brute-force attack)ब्रूट-फ़ोर्स हमला (लगातार पासवर्ड आज़माना)

B. Retain / Transliterate Universal Acronyms, Protocols & Proper Nouns

Do not invent artificial translations for protocol names, file formats, cryptographic algorithms, or hardware ports. Keep universally recognized acronyms in Latin script (or standard phonetic script) and attach native grammatical suffixes with a hyphen where needed (e.g., OTP-ஐ, DNS-இன்).

  • Keep as Acronyms: DNS, HTTPS, TLS, IPv6, OTP, UPI, SIM, USB, APK, SHA-256, AES, SAML, OIDC.
  • Keep Proper Nouns & Standards: ICANN, IANA, NIST, WhatsApp, Authy.

C. Prioritize Natural Idioms Over Literal Machine Translation

  • Avoid literal calques: Words like “mouse” (computer pointer), “worm” (network worm), “pipeline” (DevOps pipeline), or “patch” (security update) must be translated by their technical meaning (e.g., சுட்டி / माउस, பாதுகாப்புத் திருத்தம் / सुरक्षा पैच), never as literal animals or plumbing pipes.
  • Check “Do’s and Don’ts” carefully: In safety checklists, verify that every bullet under “Don’ts” is phrased as a clear negative imperative (“Do not share…” / "…பகிர வேண்டாம்" / "…साझा न करें").

4. Contributor License & Attribution (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)

All content on Cybervattam is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

License PillarWhat It Means for You
Attribution (BY)You get credit for your work. Contributors are acknowledged in the Git commit history and listed on our Contributors page. Anyone sharing or adapting Cybervattam material must credit Cybervattam and its contributors.
NonCommercial (NC)Free for education, never for sale. Educators, students, nonprofits, and communities can freely copy, print, and teach from Cybervattam guides, but no one may sell the content for commercial profit.
ShareAlike (SA)Open knowledge stays open. If anyone translates, remixes, or builds upon Cybervattam lessons, they must release their updated version under the same open CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

By submitting a Pull Request, translation, or issue to the Cybervattam GitHub repository, you confirm that your contribution is your original work and agree to share it under CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0.

5. Ready to Start?