New wave of ‘smart’ cybercrimes on the rise: Experts

Cyber security experts around the country have expressed alarm over the rising number of online crimes being carried out by increasingly innovative criminals. Two of the biggest threats that have emerged recently are that of ransom ware crimes and mobile wallet frauds. Security analysts say the incidences of crimes carried out using these methods are growing by the hour and users need to be on the alert. 

Na Vijayshankar, who is popularly known as Naavi, is an information assurance consultant, and an expert in the field of Cyber Laws. He tells us, “I had recently come across this case of a CEO from Hyderabad, whose complete official database was hacked by some criminals. They encrypted his entire data (converted the data into unrecognisable characters) and asked him to cough up a ransom of Rs 2 crore in order to retrieve the data and the corporate had no option but to pay up. Similarly, in Mumbai, two companies were compelled to pay up US $5 million each to hackers from the Gulf, who got hold of their corporate data.”

But it’s not just corporates or office-goers who are under threat here. Cyber criminals have cast their net far and wide to perpetrate thefts on mobile wallet platforms (like Paytm, for example) as well. Naavi explains, “There are more ordinary people who use cell phones and tablets these days as compared to computers. So gaining access to a person’s mobile wallet details is very damaging. Criminals can make minimal purchases to avoid detection for extended periods using mobile wallet services.”

In the backdrop of these developments, Tamil Nadu Governor, K Rosaiah spoke at a conference in Chennai called Cyber Security - Prepare or Pay. He said the perpetrators of cybercrimes wanted to target major corporates to derive the maximum benefit and to destabilise their functioning. The Governor added that cyber security threats have also enlarged their scope, not only to financial transactions, but also to designs, formulations and other intellectual properties of organisations.