Introduction
Nowadays in the digital age, we are all connected but are we taking care that our security is being taken care of? The number of cyber crimes is increasing in India day by day, and this problem is affecting our society not only at the personal level but also at the economic level.
cyber criminals have created new technological devices through which they can obtain important information, and are being used to perform other effective activities.The government and many law enforcement agencies are working hard to combat this problem, but is it enough?
Definition Of Cyber crime
All those illegal actions carried out through the improper use of digital networks and the Internet is called as Cyber crime. These crimes involve electronic devices, computer networks and the Internet and include a variety of fraudulent and illegal activities.
Cyber crime can take many forms, such as online crime, data theft, computer viruses and malware, phishing, ransomware, and data breaches.
These crimes can affect everyone from the individual level to business, government and social organizations. Cyber criminals are being stimulated by increasing levels of technological knowledge and Internet usage, posing new challenges to them. It is extremely important for the community, government, and business organizations to work together to increase cyber security and awareness.
Types Of Cyber crime
With the passes of time and the advent of new technology Cyber criminals and fraudsters adopt new methods to trick people on the internet and steal their hard earned money and private information. Their are many types of Cyber crimes through which cyber criminals steal people’s money and their personal information.Some of the significant cyber crimes that take place on the internet are outlined below.
1)DATA THEFT
Data theft involves unauthorized access by a criminal to an individual’s or organization’s personal or business information, which may encompass personal data, financial information, or business secrets.It is when a criminal gains illicit access to a personal or firm’s personal, or operational information, including personal data, financial information, or corporate information.
Data or “Data theft” means stealing computerized data, such as account passwords, credit card information, and corporate data theft occurs when improperly molesters hack computer networks to gather the confidential information they wish or disgraced-insiders provide unauthorized access to comparable informative resources.
The stolen data could be used to steal funds, make one’s presence online as identity theft, or simply stooge someone. Data theft has become a major issue as we spend much more of our time online. Just as bad as having your wallet robbed, but what about your privacy? Strong passwords and vigilance when sharing personal or operational data online are encouraged cues.
2)MAWARE ATTACKS
There are many types of malicious software intended to cause loss or blow a personal device,computer,laptop,company server,network or infrastructure without the concern of end-user.This online attacks of malicious software are called Malware attacks.
Malware attacks maybe in the form of Virus ,Worm ,Adware , Trojan,Malvertising,spyware,keyloggers,rootkits,Crypto jacking,Ransomware and Hybrid malware.
In most cases Cyber criminals build and use this malware software for stealing peoples personal information,sensitive data,Credit card details,Business secrets or confidential login credentials.these software perform illicit behave on the victim’s system or organization.
3)PHISHING
Generally phishing refers to the technique of pursuit to achieve personal and sensitive data such as identity card details (Aadhaar card,Pan card),Bank account details,Prepaid card number and card verification value details and many more through a fraudulent link or google form in an website or email,in which the fraudster pretend him/herself as an appropriate businessman or well known person.
Phishing can be in the form of email phishing,spear phishing,clone phishing,voice phishing, sms phishing and QR phishing or quishing.
Many times people get a sms that “your credit card is going to expire or your bank account kyc is going to expire in few days, Fill the form to extend your expiry date or re-kyc your bank account by clicking on the below link” .
Usually the fake links appears to be from a legitimate bank or organization.These links may use similar spelled URLs or subdomains to defraud the users.They also create similar webpages of bank/organization to win victim’s trust.
Cyber criminals used to collect kyc data and credit card details of the victim’s through the form ,then they try to misuse the data and steals money. So always be careful when dealing with such links/form and always remember No banks send a link to people to collect kyc data and credit card details through an electronic form.
4)RANSOMEWARE
The large amount of money which is demanded for releasing something after capturing it illegally is called as ransom.Some Cyber criminals create an unethical malware to permanently block users personal computer or any organization’s servers.After blocking the system they used to encrypt important files and makes them inaccessible by the owner of the system ,then they demanded the person/organization a huge amount of money to decrypt their data.This is called Ransomware attacks.
Usually some simple ransom encrypt data without damaging the system files,while some advanced malware software uses crypto viral extortion technology.Digital currencies such as bitcoin,playsafe card are demanded by the Cyber criminals in this method.By Using a proper maintained crypto viral extortion malware attacks,recovering the data without the decryption key is almost impossible for the victim,and difficult to trace digital currencies.
5)DATA BREACH
Data breach refers to the leakage of personal information over the internet without the user’s concern.Data breach is the unauthorized exposure ,publication of sensitive information.it involves those security breaches in which data secretness is compromised.
These breaches causes due to any human error and technical error.Human causes of data breach are often based on trust of outsider that turns out to be fraud.Data breach may also be caused by the insiders willfully .
sometimes data breach can be caused due to a technical bug in software or hardware.A security breach caused by a software or hardware failure can be called as security vulnerability.Some identified vulnerability can be fixed by patches (Patch refers to the changes in a computer program and useful data designed to repair it , like bug fixes to remove security vulnerabilities),but those unidentified bugs are still liable for security exploitation.
6)SOCIAL ENGINEERING
Social engineering is the act of controlling of people into operating the activity or anticipating sensitive information. some of the most social engineering techniques involves pretexting,water holing,baiting,quid pro quo,tailgating and phishing .According to a research done in 2020, Social engineering will be one of the flashiest threat for upcoming days.
one of the example of social engineering would be that someone (consider Mr. A)post an issue with an online service provider company (consider XYZ pvt. ltd.) on a social media platform publicly. which was later seen by a fraudster (Mr B). Now the fraudster (Mr B) targeted the victim (Mr A) and start conversation with him on the same social media platform addressing himself as the company authority.Gradually the fraudster (Mr. B) gains the trust of the victim (Mr. A) and then uses that trust to get access to sensitive information like password or bank account details of the victim and steal his money.
CYBER CRIME IN INDIA
The Ministry of home affairs of India founded the Indian Cyber crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in New Delhi to give Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) a framework and ecosystem for addressing cyber crime in a coordinated and all-encompassing way.
According to Rajesh Kumar, the Chief Executive Officer of the Indian Cyber Coordination Center ,the platform has received more than 31 lakhs complaints so far. 66,000 of which have been turned into formal complaints.
Every day, on average, 5,000 complaints were submitted,which also include complaints from outside India, usually some actors from countries like China,Myanmar and Cambodia are also the victim’s of cyber crime.the complaints received outside India ranges between 40-50% of total received complaints.
NCRP REPORT
According to the report of NCRP(National Cybercrime Reporting Portal)-2023,cyber crime complaints report in India was 129 per every one lakh population.However state-wise data presents that Delhi led with a rate of 755, Haryana 381,and Telangana was 261 per lakh population
According to Rajesh Kumar, CEO of Indian Cyber Coordination Centre, out of the total received complaints inside India,35% was related to Fake customer service,refund and KYC expiry ,24% was of sextortion,22% was of online booking,11% was of Aadhaar enabled payment system(AEPS) fraud,and the rest 8% was related to Android malware software fraud.
Apart from this,the complaints received from international aliens consists 38% of investment and task completing scams ,23% was of illegal loan apps,21% was of illegal gaming and digital currency scams,11% was of romance scams, and the rest 7% was related to android malware scams.
Between April-2021 to December-2023, in the gap off 33 months ,victim’s of cyber crime across the country incurred a loss of INR 10,319 crore.but approximately 10% of the amount that is nearly INR 1127 crore was recovered due to the prompt intervention by Citizens Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) and 1930 cyber complain helpline number.Both CFCFRMS and 1930 cyber crime complaint helpline number helped 4.3 lakhs citizens so far to recover their money.
If we check the reported complaints data between 2021-2023 ,More than 4.52 lakhs cyber crime complaint were reported on the National cyber crime reporting portal in 2021,In 2022 the number increases to 113.7% and reached at 9.66 lakh complaints.and in 2023 the number was further increased to 15.6 lakh with a increment of 61%.
The report of Ncrp highlighted the trends of cyber criminals that cyber criminals near Delhi are using sextortion,online booking,OLX related frauds to trick peoples.cyber criminal gangs from jharkhand are using the method of renewing kyc,android malware software and other online scams to dupe victim’s money.
Other major cyber crimes include Defrauding people’s money by initiating some fake investment schemes and offering part time jobs where the fraudsters gain the trust of peoples from the starting by giving a short amount of good return and they used to dupes people’s money after receiving investment in a large number.there were also cases of illicit malware software fraud by bypassing OTP to gain control of the victim’s system.
RECENT SUCCESS OF INDIAN GOVT. AGAINST CYBER CRIME ATTACKS
1)In India,During the G20 sumit on september 9 and 10 -2023 ,various hackers from Pakistan and Indonesia tried to execute cyber attacks on the G20 site.According to official report of I4C, on the two day event of g20 summit , the official site faced more than 16 lakh attacks per minute. However with the consistent effort of Indian agency such as- I4C, National informatics centre (NIC),Indian computer emergency response team (Cert-in) the major attacks were failed from causing any data breach.
2)An further achievement emerged when Indian organizations safely evacuated nationals from Myanmar, where they had been tricked into accepting jobs and forced to engage in international cybercrime against their choice.
3) The state police forces now have project-level access to a new piece of software named “Prativimba,” which will help them identify local cybercriminals. The number of cybercriminals operating out of Jharkhand’s Deoghar and Jamtara districts has significantly decreased due to the adoption of this program and prompt response.
“Police in Jamtara and Deoghar of jharkhand are acting based on data provided by the software “Prativimba”, which reveals the location of the origin of fake calls. As a result, 454 arrests were made .” 46,229 IMEIs, 2,810 webpages, 595 mobile apps, and over 2.95 lakh SIM cards has been disabled because of the complaints.
According to the report of IC4 ,the majority of SIM cards utilized by cybercriminals came from Assam, West Bengal, and Odisha, which have become hotspots for buying fake SIM cards for these kinds of illegal operations.
Precautions to avoid Cyber crime
In today’s digital age, being online is important, but protecting your privacy is equally important! Today we will learn some easy tips to strengthen your privacy!
TIP(1)-KEEP A STRONG PASSWORD
A strong password is your online fortress! Use a minimum of 8 characters, including uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Have a different password for each site. The longer it is, the stronger it will be.
The following passwords are considered the most common and easiest to crack – so if you have any of these or similar variations, you should seriously consider changing them.
TIP(2)-BE CAREFUL IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is fun, but over-sharing can be dangerous! Keep your profile privacy settings in order, post only relevant information, and be cautious about connecting with strangers. Remember, nothing ever disappears on the Internet!
TIP(3)-NEVER DOWNLOAD UNAUTHORIZED APK'S FROM THIRD PARTIES WEBSITE
Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to original websites. Scammers often make slight changes to the spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links may also come from friends whose emails have been inadvertently compromised, so be careful. Think before you download every app! Check app permissions, grant only necessary permissions, and avoid unknown apps. Read the privacy policies of the apps and trust only those apps which are transparent.
TIP(4)-DATA DIET
Less data sharing, more security! Provide only required information when filling out online forms, turn off location services when not needed, and regularly delete old data from your online accounts. Before providing any personal information, like your date of birth, bank account number, Aadhaar and PAN number and password, make sure that the website is secure.
- To report a cyber crime In INDIA ,you can simply call to 1930 or login to www.cybercrime.gov.in and lodge your complain online
Pingback: Evolution of Internet. Victory from ARPANET to WWW (1969-2000) - mrdashtube.in