Youth's Appeal: Stay Away From Cyber-crime

AURANGABAD: In an attempt to curb the rising incidents of sexual harassment, the Vishakha Committee at Milind Science College has organised a workshop on Wednesday for sensitizing youth towards gender issues. The programme, was primarily aimed at addressing gender sensitisation and women's development issues.

"To create awareness about the Supreme Court guidelines on Vishakha judgement, the Milind Science College organised a workshop under the aegis of People's Education Society, Mumbai. We are emphasising on sensitization as well as awareness programmes," said Milnd Science College Vishakha Committee co-ordinator Bharati Bhandekar.

While briefing about the amendments to law in case of Juvenile Justice Act, Archana Kotapalle, lecturer at Miling Law College, said, "A draft bill amending the Juvenile Justice Act has been approved by the law ministry recently, which says those above 16 years of age will be considered ?adults' when they are accused of rape or equally severe crimes."

She added, "Gender sensitisation and women's development primarily aims at addressing contemporary socio-economic issues? Education plays a very important role in this, with institutions playing a bigger role."

Kotappalle also guided students on ethical use of internet and how to prevent from being a part of cyber crimes. "Students should stay away from calls for online transactions, sites calling for ATM passwords and also pornography sites. The youngsters need to be cautious in posting pictures and other details on the net, besides using the social media? They should be aware that anything done for fun could translate into a crime."

Bhandekar warned the male students that eve-teasing, clicking pictures of girls on mobile phones and sending messages to them on their cell phones are considered as cyber crimes, which can destroy their future.

Learn about identity theft at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

India Under E-attack

Growing internet penetration and rising popularity of online banking have made India a favourite among cyber criminals, who target online financial transactions using malware, security solutions pro-vider Trend Micro said.

According to the firm, India ranks third after Japan and the US in the tally of countries most affected by online banking malware during the April-June quarter of 2014.

Japan topped the list with the highest number of online banking malware infections this quarter due to VAWTRAK. In May alone, it saw 13,000 malware infections. The US saw about 5,000 malware infections during the month, followed by India at 3,000 attacks.

“India posed for cyber criminal expansion with an average of 2.5 million malware detection in a given month. Also, 33 per cent more malicious apps were downloaded and network traffic from affected computers continued to rise," Trend-Labs director Myla V Pilao said.

TrendLabs is Trend Micro’s research and development centre.

These and many such incidents show that cyber criminals will al-ways adapt to new trends and situations whether in the use of new malware or targeted attack techniques to continue their strikes, she added. She said the severity of attacks has intensified against financial and banking institutions as well as retail outlets globally.

“Total attacks have exposed more than 10 million personal records as of July 2014 and that strongly indicates that organisations need to adopt a more strategic approach to safeguarding digital information,” she said.

Such incidents often lead to stealing of consumer’s personal information like customer names, passwords, email addresses, home addresses, cell phone numbers, and date of birth.

These types of personal privacy breaches ha-ve affected organisation’s sales and earnings, while leaving customers unable to access accounts and dealing with service disruption, Ms Pilao said.

“The pace of change in technology sector has never been as rapid as it is now, and as a result we see firms struggling to keep up with the latest developments,” she said.

Ms Pilao added that it is essential that Indian businesses treat information security as a principal constituent of business strategy as time and again it has emerged as one of the top countries witnessing cyber crime.

Learn about identity theft at www.cibilconsultants.com

Courtcsy: Asia Age 

Most Cyber Criminals are Among Youth, Shows Data

Nearly 60 per cent of those arrested for the cyber crimes- hacking, obscene publications and forgery, among others —- belong to the age group of 18-30 years, data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show.

According to NCRB, between 2008 and 2011, 1,184 persons were arrested for various cyber crimes, which are on the rise.

"Most offenders belong to the younger generation. They are more aware of the ways and means through which they can exploit cyber space and come from a variety of backgrounds," Additional Deputy Commissioner (Economic Offences Wing) S D Mishra said.

The records also show that hacking cases have increased substantially over the period, from 56 to 826 cases. Half of those arrested in these cases were in the 18-30 age group.

Hacking is not defined in the IT Act, 2000, but falls under Section 66 of Computer Related offences, which carries a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment.

Cases under obscene publications climbed to 496 cases in 2011, with 63.6 per cent of offenders from the same age group. This offence also carries a three-year imprisonment term.

"While cases related to obscene publications have risen, the important thing to note is that none of these cases were related to child pornography," Mishra said.

Forgery cases rose by over 400 per cent between 2008 and 2011, the NCRB data has revealed.

"There are a surge in the number of reported cases over the years because people are becoming more aware of these things. More number of people are reporting these crimes, especially in instances where there was a financial loss," he said.

Mishra said most cases registered dealt with internet banking and credit card frauds.

"Cyber investigations are often inhibited if offenders are working from an overseas location. This leads to jurisdiction issues and we are unable to get information from a foreign Internet service provider. But we have a full-fledged forensics lab with the latest equipment to handle such matters," Mishra said.

In cases which demand expertise in a particular encryption code or a unique data storage system, law enforcement agencies often use the services of private security firms such as Pyramid Cyber Security & Forensics, which specialises in solving such cases.

"Cooperation between countries become crucial in such cases," Managing Director of Pyramid Cyber Security & Forensics Alok Gupta said, referring to an agency called IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Crime). IMPACT, a not-for-profit organisation with 195 member countries, acts as the cyber security arm of the United Nations and helps in countering cyber threats.

"Cyber crime cases are sensitive subjects. Not everyone would like to openly speak or admit that such a crime has taken place. If, for example, a bank was to report a cyber crime, the customers will be apprehensive about putting their money there," Gupta said.

According to Gupta, malware without signatures, cloud adoption and mobile devices like cell phones are what pose a threat to cyber security.

If you have been suffering with low credit scores, being a victim of any such cyber crimes, contact us to improve your score at www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Man Uses Fake Credit Cards!

COIMBATORE: The cybercrime cell of the city police arrested a 25-year-old man on Tuesday evening for purchasing 27 mobile phones worth Rs7.97 lakh using fake credit cards from Poorvika Mobiles Private Limited in the city.

The arrested person has been identified as P Bhubalan from RNTC Colony in Dindigul. Police said, he was approached by Karthi from Chennai at the Dindigul bus stand during the first week of November, who told him to purchase cell phones using the credit cards he provided.

Bhubalan was promised Rs 5,000 each time the card was swiped. On November 28, Bhubalan had gone to Poorvika mobile showroom at Ramanathapuram and bought eight mobile phones using the said credit cards. Likewise, he purchased 27 cell phones from various showrooms belonging to Poorvika Mobiles in the city. The staff of one showroom became suspicious of him and found that he was using fake credit cards. They handed him over to the police who arrested him.

"When Bhubalan gave the mobile phones to Karthi, we suspected that the latter was the mastermind behind the fraud," said Manikumar, sub-inspector of police, cyber crime cell.

"Fake credit card makers use skimmer machines and collect information on credit cards. The fake cards are made abroad and then sent to agents in India. This is a big network and we are trying to arrest Karthi," said P Chandramohan, assistant commissioner of police, city crime branch.

Learn more about credit cards and their effects and importance for determination of your creditworthiness at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Credit Card Frauds !

If you are one of those people who are unaware about credit card fraud risks, you should consider yourself lucky that you are not one of the victims of credit card fraud. Credit card fraud can be defined as the activity when someone obtains your credit card details and uses them to make purchases in your name over the cell phone or on the internet.

You should always keep and use your credit card with utmost care. Also you should always check your credit card statement carefully for every month to identify the charges of purchases that were not made by you.

Credit card frauds mostly occur when your credit card has been stolen or lost or if you have made purchases through unsecured online websites. It is also important for you to report these matters to your credit card company if any such things happen.

Here is how you can protect yourself from Credit card fraud:

• Ignore pre-approved credit card offers.

• Keep all your documents containing your personal information with utmost care.

• Try to use cash for purchases wherever possible. You would not exchange any personal information by using cash while making purchases.

• Beware of your surroundings while using your PIN at ATM’s while withdrawing cash or using your debit card at stores.

• Placing fraud alerts on your credit reports is a good way to reduce identity theft risk.

• Use only secure payment gateways to make purchases on the internet.

There are umpteen ways in which a Credit Card Fraud can happen, from low tech dumpster driving to high tech hacking.

Applying the above mentioned tips in your daily routine can help you protect your identity and managing your credit effectively.

Credit score can be hampered with excessive use of credit card. Learn more about credit cards and their effects and importance for determination of your creditworthiness at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Cell Phones are easy identity theft targets

Cell phones are more powerful than ever, with innovations and features being unveiled constantly.

A recent survey shows adults own cell phones, and many use them for much more than just making calls -- for e-mail, instant messaging, Web access, shopping online, even banking, bill-paying and much more.

But can cell phone users really be sure all their personal information is secure?

As devices have become more data-intensive, security is a challenge. But the organization says the industry is constantly improving security features on wireless networks and devices, to try to keep consumers safe.

To help keep information secure :

• Set up a voicemail password, to make it harder for someone to break in.

• If you're going to shop or bank online, do it over a secured network: Free WiFi access points are much riskier.

• Don't download apps from unknown sources. Some apps have been accused of gathering personal info.

Source: Secondary