Pak cyber criminals defacing Indian sites

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 12 November 2009, 22:53 IST   |    3 Comments
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Pak cyber criminals defacing Indian sites
Hyderabad: Cyber security superstar Ankit Fadia has warned that Pakistani cyber criminals break into more than 50 Indian websites per day. At a press conference, Fadia said that the attacks have occurred almost non-stop since 2001. Despite being the IT capital of the world, India lags far behind in cyber security, he said. Fadia, who at 23, has risen to the forefront of the Internet security community, shared his research into the cutting-edge techniques hackers employ today. In particular, he identified social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Orkut as major weak points hackers can exploit. "The latest viruses can come from your best friend on Facebook," Fadia explained. "You might get a message from someone you trust linking to a video or a website, but instead the link can lead to a virus infection." Given the wide presence of media and political figures on Facebook, a knowledgeable hacker with nefarious intent can impersonate a celebrity's account and cause great damage. In addition, said Fadia, terrorists routinely use social networking for planning and communication. Millions of messages are sent daily, so it is difficult for authorities to detect and identify any single conversation. Even if a message is apprehended, authorities in India cannot act without the co-operation of foreign police forces, as many networking sites are based in the U.S. or Europe. Often, communication between police forces can be slow or non-existent. The solution, according to Fadia, would be a worldwide Internet police force akin to the United Nations or Interpol, but he stressed that education of current police forces on the terminology of cyber crime is a must. "Things here are really pathetic," said Fadia of India's Internet policing. "If you go to a police station and say 'my Orkut account was hacked,' nine times out of 10 they would have no idea what you're talking about." The solution, Fadia insists, is training, and to that end he has assisted police departments across India and the world. By educating law enforcement officials on the threats and techniques of cyber criminals, Fadia is confident that he can make the Internet a safer place.

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