Top Internet security expert warns 'cyber warfare technology will be used by terrorists'

Cyber crime weapon production increases

Cyber criminals are cranking out new weapons at a brisk pace, tailoring malicious software for a spectrum of gadgets including smartphones, tablets, and Macintosh computers...

A “threats report” released late Monday by McAfeeshowed that the number of new pieces of malicious code, or “malware,” targeting Windows machines in the first three months of this year was the highest in four years. There was also a rise in malware aimed at mobile gadgets running on Google-backed Android software and at Macintosh computers based on Apple operating systems.................

For a long time cyber criminals concentrated their attention on getting into Windows-powered personal computers (PCs) because the popularity of the operating system meant a wealth of potential victims.

But as Apple and Android devices have caught on around the world, they have emerged as a new target.

As more homes and businesses use these platforms, the attacks will spread............

The number of networks of virus-infected computers, referred to as “botnets,” rose to nearly five million, with Colombia, Japan, Poland, Spain and the United States seeing the biggest increases.

Hackers use ploys such as booby-trapped emails or links to secretly infect machines with malware that can let them not only steal data or track keystrokes but use the infected machines to launch further attacks.................

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Cyber Crooks: In It for the Money

Hacktivists steal headlines with their often-audacious attacks against high-profile targets. While it's easy for IT and security professionals to get caught up and imagine hacktivists will be breaking into their networks next, cyber-criminals intent on making money remain the bigger threat................

A majority of the respondents in the latest Impact of Cybercrime on Business report said financial fraud was the primary motivation behind cyber-attacks against their organizations. Theft of customer data and intellectual property was the next common reason behind the attacks, followed by disruption of business operations..........

Cybercriminals are no longer isolated amateurs. They are members of organized groups and contract out work to highly-skilled individuals to craft and execute targeted attacks. The goal of attackers is to obtain valuable information, and what constitutes valuable information has expanded in recent months. Employee records and login information for Facebook and email accounts can be sold alongside credit card data on the black market..........

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Firewalls can help hackers break into Facebook, Twitter

WASHINGTON: Firewall technology designed to boost security can unwittingly reveal data that could help a hacker break into Facebook and Twitter accounts, a new study says.

Using Android smartphones, Z. Morley Mao, computer science associate professor at the University of Michigan, and doctoral student Zhiyun Qian revealed how an attacker could hijack a TCP (transmission control protocol) Internet connection by taking advantage of publicly available information on smartphones. 


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Internet attacks target small cities, small biz in India

 25% of bot- infections reported from small cities, targeted attacks up from 77 a day to 82 .

Small and emerging cities and small and medium enterprises are the latest targets for cyber criminals. Cities such as Bhubaneshwar, Surat, Cochin, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam and Indore are increasingly facing the risk of cyber attacks, with 25% of bot- infections in India reported in such cities, said the new finiding from Symantec.
The Internet Security Threat Report, from Symantec also shows that advanced targeted attacks are spreading beyond the more commonly assumed target of large organizations with 50% targeting small and medium organizations in 2011. In addition, the report highlights that while the number of vulnerabilities decreased by 20%, the number of malicious attacks continued to skyrocket by 81%.



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RBI warns against fraud emails

 MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India today warned the general public against fraud emails bearing its name being sent by unscrupulous entities asking customers to share information.

The central bank said it was come to its notice about an email from mail id: alert@rbi.org, which was signed by RBI Online offering a new online security platform.
 
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बीएसएनएल के सीनियर एसडीई ने बनाए 25 महिलाओं के अश्लील वीडियो

धर्मशाला से गिरफ्तार बीएसएनएल के सीनियर एसडीई आरके शर्मा उर्फ प्रशांत योगी अब तक 25 महिलाओं के अश्लील वीडियो बना चुका है। योगी ने जयश्री से शादी रचाने से पहले तीन शादियां की थीं। इनसे वह तलाक ले चुका था।

बेंगलुरु से आई मेडिटेशन सेंटर में ठहरी पर्यटक महिला की शिकायत पर पुलिस ने रविवार को योगी को गिरफ्तार किया था............

सुधेड़ में आरके शर्मा के निजी आवास में संचालित किए जा रहे यथार्थ मेडिटेशन इंटरनेशल सेंटर में वह बाहरी राज्यों की महिलाओं को आकर्षित कर बुलाता था। इसके लिए उसने कई वेबसाइट और ब्लॉग बनाए हैं। मेडिटेशन के नाम पर अन्य राज्यों की महिलाएं प्रशांत योगी के पास मेडिटेशन और योग सीखने आती थी। प्रशांत योगी बाथरूम में गुप्त कैमरे लगाकर उनके अश्लील वीडियो बना रहा था............

योगी ने बाथरूम में स्विच के पीछे गुप्त कैमरा छिपा रखा था। इसका कनेक्शन उसके बेडरूम में रखे कंप्यूटर से जुड़ा था...................


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सावधान! फेसबुक पर चैटिंग से कंप्‍यूटर को खतरा

अगर आप फेसबुक पर चैटिंग करते हैं तो जरा सावधान हो जाइये। एक नया कंप्यूटर वायरस फेसबुक चैट मैसेंजर के जरिए फैल रहा है। यह वॉयरस आपके कंप्यूटर के एंटी वायरस पर हमला कर उसे निष्क्रिय कर देता है और फिर आपके दोस्तों को अपने आप लिंक भी भेज देता है। इंटरनेट सिक्‍योरिटी एक्सपर्ट्स ग्रुप ट्रेंड माइक्रो ने steckt.Evl नाम का यह नया वायरस खोजा है..........

ट्रेंड माइक्रो ने बताया कि यह वॉयरस अभी फेसबुक जैसी सोशल नेटवर्किंग वेबसाइटों की इंस्टेंट मैसेजिंग एप्लीकेशन के जरिए फैल रहा है। यह एक लिंक के रूप में आता है और क्लिक करते ही अपनी कॉपी डाउनलोड कर लेता है। एंटी वॉयरस को निष्क्रिय करते ही यह कंप्यूटर में अपने आप अन्य नुकसानदेह सॉफ्टवेयर डाऊनलोड कर लेता है। यही नहीं यह उन एप्लीकेशन की फाइलों को भी डिलीट कर देता है जिन्हें इसने निष्क्रिय किया होता है। इस वॉयरस के जरिए इंटरनेट पर आपको कंप्यूटर का दुरुपयोग किया जा सकता है और कंप्यूटर में सेव की गई निजी जानकारियों को भी चुराया जा सकता है............

 

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एमबीबीएस छात्रा की अंतरंग वीडियो क्लिप इंटरनेट पर, मचा हड़कंप

रोहतक.पंडित बीडी शर्मा स्वास्थ्य विश्वविद्यालय में अध्ययनरत एमबीबीएस अंतिम वर्ष की एक छात्रा की अंतरंग वीडियो क्लिप इंटरनेट पर अपलोड होने से हड़कंप मच गया है। वीडियो क्लिप को डाउन लोड उसके ही मित्र ने की है। मामला संज्ञान में आते ही संस्थान के अधिकारियों ने छात्रा के रूम की जांच पड़ताल कर उसे सील कर दिया है।

सूत्रों के अनुसार एमबीबीएस के अंतिम वर्ष की छात्रा का मित्र एनआरआई है और वह विदेश में रह रहा है। विदेश से कंम्यूटर पर वैब कैम का इस्तेमाल करते हुए फोटो और वीडियो शेयर कर लिए। इसका फायदा उठाते हुए उसके एनआरआई मित्र ने उसकी क्लिप एक साइट पर अपलोड कर दी।

हैरत की बात है कि इसकी भनक छात्रा को कतई नहीं मिली। इसका पता तब चला, जब संस्थान के ही किसी छात्र ने उसकी तस्वीरें देखी.........................

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Ravi sentenced for cyber bullying

Indian American student Dharun Ravi was on Monday (May 22) sentenced to 30 days in jail by a US judge on hate crime charges by using a webcam to spy on a homosexual roommate who later committed suicide, terming his behavior "cold, calculated and methodically conceived." Ravi was also hit with three years probation, 300 hours of community service, a USD 10,000 fine and counseling on cyber bullying and "alternate lifestyles"...............


The case has polarised opinion across the country about whether hate crime statutes should be used for non-violent crimes and whether Ravi is being scapegoated for a wave of bullying cases against gay teenagers...........
  
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Anonymous takes out Indian CERT as attacks continue

Hacktivist group Anonymous continued its attacks on the Indian government and creative industries at the weekend by taking out the web sites of the national CERT and the country’s President in retaliation for widespread blocks on video and file sharing sites.

The group’s @opindia_revenge Twitter account documented the latest attacks, which also appeared to take offline the web site of film company and broadcaster Reliance Big Entertainment, and government portal india.gov.in.............

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MHA unveils new cyber structure

Faced with increasing cyber crimes and defacements of Indian websites, the Union home ministry has unveiled a new cyber security architecture to deal with the new threats to national security from cyber space.

Cyber attacks on the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), CBI and other government infrastructure in recent times has prompted the MHA to draw up an institutional structure for cyber security, clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders...............

The government will set up a National Centre of Excellence for cyber forensic services (CoE), exclusively devoted to render Cyber Forensic Services and act as a National Research and Training Centre on Cyber Forensics apart from offering forensic analysis services to law enforcement agencies. It will also impart the critical training to cyber crime police personnel in states. The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) core team will liaise with this centre for inputs and guidance to state agencies.......

The IDSA’s latest report on “India’s Cyber Security Challenge”, released by NSA Shivshanker Menon this week says United States was the first country to formally declare “cyber war” as fifth domain warfare after land, sea, air and space. In 2010, China overtly introduced its first department dedicated to defensive cyber warfare and information security.
“The race is on. India is a target. There have been numerous incidents of sensitive government and military computers being attacked by unknown entities and information being stolen,” says the report adding as many as 219 government websites were defaced by various hacker groups in January to October 2011...........
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Problems with social networking

We all know how wonderful social networking is—how we’re all in touch with each other and updated on each other’s lives. Sometimes, we know even more about people who live abroad than those who live right next door. But some problems have come about because of all the sharing and connectivity too..........

• Life envy – All of a sudden, you find yourself wondering why your life isn’t as fun and fabulous as those of your friends. Whenever you check Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, or Instagram, they’ve uploaded photos of themselves at a party having the time of their lives while you… are still in your pajamas at three in the afternoon on a Saturday.

• Friends are reduced to likes – Instead of seeing who liked your photo or status update, you’re checking to see how many did. It doesn’t really matter who liked what you posted, but how many likes you were able to get! But then again, once someone really special laughs at a joke you just told him, he’s all that matters, right? Or at least he should be.

• False information can spread like wildfire – Some people are careless in sharing news without checking the facts first..........

• People are less sensitive – It’s easy to comment on someone’s post when you aren’t right in front of them. It gives you more bravado, something you might think twice about if you were having an actual conversation. This has been the cause of many fights, or the reason for blocking and hiding friends.........

• Stalking becomes easy – If you want to know more about a person you’ve just met or heard about, all you need to do is search for them and go through what they have posted on their social networking sites. Because of this, how many people haven’t been hired because of what they’ve posted on their pages..................

• You feel lonely – It may not make sense, but as social networking brings us together, it can make you feel lonely too. As you see everyone’s connections and friendships, how people comment and like everyone else’s posts and not yours, how people get in touch with you only when they want you to like their photo so they can win a contest, and so on. Or what if you see a photo of all your friends at a get-together and you had no idea about it?..................

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Indian hackers deface Multan government website

The Multan district government website was defaced by Indian hackers on Sunday. The hackers had erased all official data on the website and posted anti-Pakistan and anti-government slogans on the homepage.

Indian national songs, supposedly sung at a concert, were being played as background music on the website.

The website, www.multan.gov.pk, is the Multan government’s official website and contains important data vis a vis the district.

A group named ‘Indishell’ claimed hacking the website, with its name prominently mentioned on the homepage, along with a message saying ‘We have an EYE on you’, that is strategically placed under cat eyes with pupils donned as the Indian flag.

The website had information including maps, buildings, history, culture of Multan along with a list of ongoing developmental projects in the district.....................

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Hackers push India into signing Budapest Convention

Stung by an alarming number of 8,000 cyber attacks targeting government institutions foiled since the Commonwealth Games, India has been pushed into signing the Budapest Convention - the only existing international treaty to fight the growing menace and also join hands with the US and UK to strengthen this international legal framework against cyber crime.

While New Delhi's close ally Moscow, and Beijing have been campaigning for a new treaty to deal with cyber crimes, India is unwilling to join that framework as most cyber attacks targeting India have originated in China.

Governments world-wide have complained about their networks being targeted from Chinese soil. But last March, the Chinese government denied allegations of supporting hackers to launch cyber attacks against other countries.

But a report by US Northrop Grumman for the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, accused Beijing of funding research to bolster cyber attacks against US military commands and the contractors that serve them, particularly telecommunications systems.

While India will have its own cyber-security architecture soon, it is also studying the Budapest Convention that was adopted in 2001. Sources said India will take final call soon on signing the Budapest Convention...........

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Are you a cyber crime victim?

While most cities in India are racing to garner other kinds of laurels, Bangalore is battling tooth and nail to seize the title of cyber crime capital of our country. Spams and obscene mails have become so frequent that cyber crime requires no introduction for Bangaloreans today. Close to 200 cyber crime cases are recorded every year in the city, however, only 10 per cent of them are actually solved.

There are many reasons for these increasing incidents of cyber crime in the city. Firstly, the problem stems from the root cause, that is the conviction rate has been on the decline in the last decade. Out of 307 cases that were filed in the past nine years, only 60 of them were actually charge sheeted..........

Secondly, a lot of evidence is lost either during the investigation or due to lack of awareness amongst the public. Many a time, people do not take these things seriously and end up deleting the mails.........

Cyber crime is still new and not many people are aware of its technicalities...............

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Kids need counselling on social networking sites

Children addicted to social networking sites without understanding their implications are falling victim to grudges which move from cyberspace to the real world...........

Recently, a Class 10 student on Wednesday stabbed his classmate in a central Delhi school, apparently miffed at the latter posting a photograph of his on Facebook........... 

In another case  students had created a page on their teacher on a social networking site so that they can make fun of her and abuse her............

The lack of counselling and emotional management skills in children along with unhindered access to networking sites are giving way to violent expressions among children unable to handle the situation..............

Children need to be told that networking sites are not for spreading hatred or vent anger. Schools should take initiatives and counsel the students. This is a must. Unfortunately, not much attention is being given to counselling on cyber activity................



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Cybercrimes (via cell phones) up in 2011

Addicted as we are to our online life and our mobile devices, it's no surprise that a growing number of cybercriminals are lurking out there with us.

Their newest target is right in our hands: our cellphones.

Complaints of cybercrime topped 314,000 in 2011 -- up 3.4 percent from the previous year -- and California led the nation, according to a new report issued by the Internet Crime Complaint Center.......

Online crime occurs in varied forms, from identity theft that uses personal information to commit fraud, to phony job schemes involving bad check deposits, to "romance scams" that seduce the lovelorn to send money to a pseudo-suitor. Nationwide, the average victim who filed a complaint last year was duped out of $4,187, reported the center, known as IC3....

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‘Digital forensics required to combat rise in ME cyber crime’

AccessData Group, the pioneer of digital investigations and litigation support, is set to generate regional awareness about digital forensics and incident response technologies through its participation in a key cyber security conference that was held in Dubai late last week.........

Companies in the region are beginning to realise that there is a need for holistic cyber security. The malware attacks plaguing the region are growing not only in volume but also in sophistication.

Merely having a firewall or basic security system in place is no longer sufficient. Both government and private enterprises need to address this by developing a security strategy that includes digital forensics and incident response...........

It was also discussed about the rise of targeted high-tech and e-Crime, which will include the increase in malware attacks being seen around the world, including the Middle East, and the risks they pose to Critical National Infrastructure...........

There is also requirement of dynamic malware analysis tools and visualisation solutions to detect, investigate, remediate and prevent such attacks........

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Cybercrime will cost Scottish businesses £31 billion this year

THIS YEAR the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (Oscia) projected that cybercrime alone will cost Scottish businesses and consumers well in excess of £31 billion. In an attempt to address cybercrime and to safeguard economic well-being across the country, the first e-crime Scotland Summit will be held next week on Tuesday.

As larger businesses find the finances to increasingly step up their game to identify and respond to the threat of cyber crime, small to medium sized enterprises are at risk of falling behind, which in turn puts them and their customers at greater exposure to e-crime. Many of these businesses may be put off by the cost, time, and specialist expertise needed to ensure good IT and network security. But the reality is, as next week’s event will show, there are easy steps to protect against e-crime..........

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