Recently, in Coimbatore, a girl’s friend took her pictures from a passing-out party, morphed them and threatened to make them public. In Hyderabad, a 11-year-old girl clicked on an e-mail link from an unknown person and let the intruder take complete control of her computer. He used a webcam, photographed her and then blackmailed her parents for money.
In another case, a girl uploaded her own videos and fabricated a case against a male relative and extorted money. “In most cases, the perpetrators are often from the same social circle as the victim,” says S.N. Ravichandran, a member of Cyber Security of India and assists the police cyber crime cell in investigations.
Ravichandran says there are three categories of cyber crimes. “One is a personal attack where the victims are often women, girls, and children aged between nine and 15. The perpetrators stalk them, send obscene messages and photographs to extort money and favours. In corporate companies, there is theft of data, copyrighted drawings, designs, and misappropriation of money. The third category is against society where social media is used to solicit inappropriate stuff like drugs.”
Youngsters must be wary of social media, warns Ravichandran. “Through this, they can become victims of sexual abuse, child pornography and paedophiles. The more they access Internet, the more vulnerable they are.”
He says children also think it is cool to hack. “It is not; it is unethical,” he says. “Messenger services like WhatsApp are the biggest threat. When you accept the terms and conditions of WhatsApp, you are allowing them access to the data from your phone including phone numbers, photos, personal information, besides access to bank account information and email ids.”
Parents have a huge responsibility, especially for children below 13 years. “They should monitor the child’s Internet access. They should lay a strong foundation on values right from the time the child goes to school even at the primary level. Parents should know what their child is up to on the social media and on their phone. Regularly interact with them. Trust your child. Talk to them. Sit down and eat a meal together. Spend quality time. Don’t pamper them with costly gadgets or electronic gadgets. Allow the child to go out, get some fresh air and play.”
Bring back section 66A
The Supreme Court has quashed Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act. This Act deals with ‘Computer related offences’, and outlines punishment of imprisonment up to three years, a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh, or both. “Now, the offenders can walk free. There can’t be a solution without bringing back Section 66A,” says Ravichandran.
Do’s
Use a strong password
Use privacy settings and insist your friends use theirs too
Verify links, attachments, downloads, emails, anything sent to you
Make sure only your accepted friends or followers can see what you put up
Even your trusted friends could have had their accounts hacked. Don’t wire that ‘emergency money’ until you can voice-verify
Don’ts
Disclose personal information or post pictures. Nothing is ever really gone from the Internet, even if you delete a picture from your account
Photograph or be photographed without consent
Store ATM pin number on phones
Lend phones or laptops
Reveal date of birth or mother’s maiden name anywhere
Reply to mails from unknown people. Just delete them
Give away your password or use the same password for any other services
Advertise when you are going on vacation
Post inappropriate or illegal content anywhere on the Internet
In the city
The Coimbatore chapter of Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and ISACA have just completed a week-long awareness programme on Information Security covering the police, industry people, government departments, the corporation, the collectorate, hospitals and students. Balaji Raju, anchor of the Coimbatore chapter of DSCI, says, “Our role is primarily to help organisations run their IT systems safely. In Coimbatore, pump manufacturers and engineering companies need to step up security and guard their patented CAD/CAM designs. Social media and services like WhatsApp are the biggest threats. Youngsters store all private information including certificate details and bank data on their smartphones. It is important to set cyber boundaries when it comes to sharing private information. We have to educate ourselves on this.”
We cannot deny the merits of social media, which offers fast and easy communication, says Gayathri Purushothaman, immediate Past President of ISACA Coimbatore Chapter. “But the abuse of content is increasing. We come across many instances where photos on social media, especially those of girls are misused. Security in social media handling is often overlooked. It is high time we self regulate.”
Ravichandran says that Coimbatore is better aware of cyber crimes. “The police take a pro-active step. They deploy people like us to collect information too. When we talk to students about the dangers of social media, they are willing to go out of Facebook. But, that’s only a negligible number. We also talk to parents. We advise teachers to monitor the behaviour of students. When a gregarious child begins to withdraw, and begins to perform poorly, these are clear indications of phone or Net addiction. At colleges, we also tell the students about careers in Information Security. There’s a demand for five lakh security experts and all we have is just about 5,000.”
