Medical debt affect your credit score in these ways!

Even when you have health insurance, medical costs can add up, forcing you to borrow in order to pay your bill. While it would be nice to think that the debt you incur for health care costs won’t ruin your credit, the reality is that, like any debt, can impact your credit score.

Medical debt that appears on your credit report normally hurts your credit score, no matter the reason for how it got there. Medical debt can be reported by the providers, collection agencies, and through public records if the creditor files suit in court.
                             

Medical debt and your credit score

How medical debt impacts your credit score also depends on the scoring model being used to determine your score.  Medical debt that has been sent to collections will have a smaller impact on your score than non-medical collection accounts.

However, Not every lender uses the most current version of credit scoring models. This means that your medical debt might still count against you, depending on how it is reported, and which scoring model and version of that scoring model are used. In general, though, it’s safe to assume that your medical debt is likely to have some impact on your credit score, especially if you have missed payments. Any debt account that isn’t kept up to date will drag on your credit score.

How to reduce the impact of medical debt

“The best way to keep medical debt from dragging down your score is to keep it off your consumer report,” says Haney. In many models, paying off your medical debt can also prevent it from having a big impact on your score. The good news is that medical debt is in a class by itself when it comes to your credit report and your score.

Haney suggests working with your health care provider. The information on your credit report appears there because it has been reported by a creditor or service provider. This means that if you can work out a payment plan with your provider, and you stick to the terms, there is a good chance that it won’t be reported to the credit bureaus. Most providers will not report medical debt when consumers are actively communicating, and making an earnest effort to resolve open claims issues with insurers, and paying down the balance.

Many hospitals and other health care service providers offer payment plans for expensive procedures. Additionally, you can usually find reasonable payment terms if you have a high deductible. The problems come in when you stop making payments as agreed and the provider feels like the account needs to be turned over to a collection agency. Most providers do not have systems to report but collection agencies do.

Also, be aware of the difference between organizing a non-loan payment plan with your provider and the “payment plans” offered as loans through third parties. These types of plans are commonly offered by dentist offices and vision specialists. You are referred to a payment plan, but this plan is actually set up through a third-party and is a special financing arrangement. In some cases, these arrangements are reported as the loans they are, and appear on your credit report. Understand the distinction before you agree to a payment plan.

Paying off your medical debt can also reduce the impact on your credit score. Increasingly, there is pressure for credit scoring models to stop “counting” medical debt — even collection agency medical debt — once it has been discharged. Make an effort to pay off your medical debt, and you can reduce its impact on your credit score.

Watch out for identity theft

Finally, be on the alert for fraudulent medical debt. Medical ID fraud is a growing problem. Someone might use your information to receive health care, and then skip on the bill. This results in medical debt in your name. Check your credit report regularly for these types of fraudulent accounts. If you notice billing for a medical procedure that you didn’t have, follow up and dispute the account. You will likely need to prove to the health care provider that you weren’t the one who received the treatment. This can be difficult to clear up, and it’s even harder the longer the account sits, so make sure to check your credit report regularly for errors and fraud.  Your best defense is to keep on top of the situation, and try to avoid falling behind.
Source: Secondary

Know about your child’s credit report

You know that you need to teach your child about finances early on. But while you teaching your child the importance of budgeting and saving up for goals, chances are that your child’s credit report doesn’t come up.

However, you could be making a big mistake by not keeping tabs on your minor child’s credit history. Children’s IDs are attractive to criminals because they know that most children have no credit. They are working with a blank slate when applying for credit.

If you don’t watch out for your child’s credit history, there is a good chance that he or she could enter adulthood with negative credit, thanks to unpaid debts racked up by criminals looking to cash in.
                                            

Why your child’s credit is vulnerable?

Today, much of the credit process is handled electronically and automatically. You can apply for a credit card online, have it sent to your address, and never see a person face-to-face. It’s even possible to use a minor’s Social Security number to apply for credit offline. When you give a number in a store, looking for a financing offer, what you give is run through electronically, and many associates only see whether or not you are approved, and what kind of financing deal you can receive. 

This makes it relatively easy for scammers to steal your child’s ID and do a great deal of damage. After all, most of us don’t even check our credit until we apply for our first credit card. Your child might not even realize something is amiss until his or her early 20s. 

It is not very common to have any credit protection as a minor, so the theft will go undetected for a longer time. 

Another issue is the fact that many kids are online with their lives. 

From gaming to social media, children are online, and interacting with others. And, because kids are often much less guarded than adults, it’s relatively easy to get information from them that can be useful, even if it isn’t a Social Security number.

“Parents now must worry what their children are doing online, and what others may be doing to them online. Parents must start protecting their children from these crimes.

How to protect your child’s credit?

Most parents don’t think to check their children’s credit reports; many parents don’t even check their own credit regularly. This is a big mistake that needs to be remedies. The best way to detect child Identity theft is to have their credit monitored, just like an adult’s. 

Additionally, watch for suspicious signs that your child’s credit might be compromised. There have been stories in the news about children who receive credit card offers — and who have even been approved for credit cards. And, even after the passage of the Credit CARD Act, there are still stories of minors receiving credit card offers. Receiving these offers might be a sign that someone has used your child’s identity to obtain credit.

Also, it’s possible that your child has a credit report for less nefarious reasons. If someone sends your child a gift, ordered online and sent directly to him or her, the name might be on a marketing list that could then be sold to creditors looking for potential customers.

Once you start monitoring your child’s credit report, you have a better idea of what is going on with it. You can request to have a freeze placed on the report, so that it’s more difficult for new credit to be opened in your child’s name. With a freeze on the credit report, you should be contacted for verification before new credit is issued.

Monitor as much as possible so you can catch problems right away. Once you have found a discrepancy on the report, handle it with the company and the credit reporting company.

Visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Look for these on your credit report!

You probably already know that you should check your credit report at least once a year. But just why should you care about your credit report in the first place? Well, your credit report is the “snapshot” of your financial health that’s used by lenders, landlords, credit card companies, insurance agencies, cell phone companies and even future employers to judge your creditworthiness. 
Your credit report and your credit score is based on your credit history, and lenders use that to decide your ability to pay your bills or repay your debt.

So your credit history impacts a lot, which is why checking your credit report and making sure it’s accurate is so important. Understanding your credit report – what you owe and to whom – and making sure your report doesn’t have any errors will make sure that you’re as financially healthy as possible.
                     

When you do get your credit report, you’ll want to look through it to make sure that everything is accurate and there is no suspicious activity or accounts you don’t recognize. Here’s what to look for when you look through your credit report:

Information that’s not yours: If you have a common name, your credit history might have some information from someone else’s history. Make sure your name and address are accurate on your report.

Information from an ex-spouse: If you are divorced, your ex’s information may be mixed up with yours.

Accounts you don’t recognize: If there is an account on your credit report that you don’t recognize, it could mean that someone has used your personal identity to open up financial accounts in your name. This is also known as identity theft. Identity theft happens when someone steals your personal information and uses it for financial gain. A person might open a new credit card account or open a new bank account in your name if they someone got access to your full name, birth date and Social Security number. If bad checks are written or bills are not paid from these accounts, it will show up on your credit report.

Out-of-date information: You may have negative marks that are listed after the legal deadline for removing them from your report. Most negative marks can stay on your account for up to 7 years.

Wrong notes for closed accounts: An account that you closed yourself may look like a creditor closed the account. An account closed by a creditor can actually hurt your credit history, so make sure it’s reported correctly.

Non-delinquent accounts still appear as delinquent or more than one delinquent date is listed on your account: Credit reporting agencies may not have noted which delinquencies have been fixed. Similarly, it you have an account that’s in collections, your report might accidentally have more than one date for when your account became delinquent. Make sure there’s only one date listed.

If you do spot an error on your credit report, you have the right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete information. You’ll need to contact both the credit bureau and the organization or company that provided that information. Both are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report.

Learn more about identity theft, visit: www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Credit card hacks!

Why do cyber thieves take the time to wreak havoc? Since hackers are going after the companies that hold your information, it’s hard to stop them from getting your information. All the same, you can take steps to minimize the damage. Here’s our guideline to deal with the uncertainty.

Ask for the new card

Call your bank and demand a new card. It’s not likely to put up a fight as the bank is responsible for paying false charges. In the event that the bank does, don’t back down on your demand.

Renew your password

If you have done any online business with the affected company – or you have an account with it – change your password right away. Make it more than 8 characters and difficult to figure out. If it’s easy for you to remember, it’s easy for a hacker to crack. While you’re at it, change and strengthen all of your passwords.

                    

Filing a complaint

Call the non-emergency number of your local police department. Say that you were a victim of identity theft and wish to file a report. This makes your status as a victim official.

Block your credit

You don’t want anybody opening up new lines of credit in your name. Blocking doesn’t allow anybody to access your credit report without your approval. Creditors probably won’t approve an application without having access to the person’s credit report.

Monitoring your account online

Don’t wait to check it when the statement arrives; check today. Keep monitoring daily for at least 30 days after your new card arrives. If you see fraudulent activity, call the bank and report it immediately. Often you can dispute charges online, but calling and talking to somebody assures that the issuer has record of your dispute.
Visit- www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

3 things to look for in your Cibil credit report

You are advised to check your Cibil report every year. Just like one would take a annual health check up to ensure all parameters are within the normal range and no red flags are popping up, so also one should check the CIBIL report annually i.e. do a financial annual check up.

There are no reporting errors from the lender

You should check your Cibil credit report at least once a year to make sure there are no errors that could keep you from getting credit or best available terms on a loan. You should also check your report before making a major purchase that would involve a loan, such as a house or a car.

While sending information to the credit bureau the lender or the bank could have made some errors in reporting your credit transactions. The first step is to find the errors by actually reading the report and not tossing it in a file after reading the Cibil score. When Lata got hold of her Cibil report and read it she saw it still showed an a outstanding amount of a credit card payment, which had expired and surrendered over 2 years ago. This wrong information was greatly responsible for lowering her Cibil credit score. So if you find mistakes, the immediate action should be to fill out the dispute form for the credit reporting bureau. If the error is actually with the creditor who reported the account, you may also need to write a letter to the creditor or alternatively raise the dispute with Credit Bureau for correction. Maintaining a high Cibil score is essential to a healthy financial future.

Is your identity stolen?

Check your report for any credit applications/enquiries that have arisen there are not made by you.  For instance, if you see a couple of home loan application in your Cibil report that you have not made, it can be a sure sign of identity theft. Look out for signs of identity theft. Alerts for possible fraud include:

• Loan accounts that you have not opened
• Credit inquiries not made by you
• Any late payments or defaults that were not made by you
• Address and Identity information which are not yours
• Phone number reported which you have never used

Incase you suspect an identity theft, immediately report any suspicious information or activity to the credit bureau that issued the Cibil report and to your banks too.

Account information

A large bulk of the information in the Cibil report is your account information - a list of your loans and credit card accounts. This is a good time to review your accounts. You can cross check the various accounts, the credit limit, current balance and payment history. Make a note of accounts that were closed or made inactive by the bank and those that have late payments or negative remarks associated with it. See which ones are active and if you would like to consolidate any of them, organise paperwork in the accounts and in general do the financial housekeeping we tend to postpone.

Source-secondary

Cyber Criminals Behind E-extortion

VADODARA: When you think of cyber crime, you may usually picture a hacker sneaking into networks and installing viruses designed to destroy data and computers. But cyber crime is not just about destroying computers and data for malicious purposes. Instead it is to steal information and data for financial gain.

This is what founder and CEO of Quick Heal Technologies Kailash Katkar said here on Saturday.

Katkar stressed that cyber criminals are not just making money and robbing hard-earned money of victims, their well-networked underground activities are making even the corporate sector victims.
        

"These cyber criminals work from countries which do not have strong cyber laws and are fully involved in extortion activities. They are constantly finding new ways to make money off innocent people," said Katkar, a school dropout, who created a Rs 187 crore anti-virus software business with a seed capital of Rs 15,000.

"In fact, our threat research and response team receives over one lakh unique virus samples on a daily basis. Just six months ago, our team used to receive nearly 75,000 unique virus samples and with the passage of time this number is expected to increase," said Katkar, who in 1985 had taken up a job at a local radio and calculator repair shop to supplement his family's income.

Talking about the growth of anti-virus software industry in the country, Katkar said last year, the total market was estimated at Rs 800 crore.

"The anti-virus software industry is expected to grow because of the penetration of smart phones. While internet is costly in India and computer penetration is still much lesser compared to the developed nations, penetration of smart phones has increased tremendously. This has led to development of security solutions for mobile devices," he said.

"Computers have been able to reach to only 10 per cent of our total population against 70 to 80 per cent PC penetration in developed countries. But penetration of smart phones has increased by over 100 per cent," he said.

'Americans can be easily hypnotized'

Vadodara: Americans can be easily hypnotized compared to any other population in the world. This is what world's most experienced hypnotist and world's first ever hypnotist to appear on television Andrew Newton believes.

"My experience suggests that Americans are the most regimented people on this planet. You can find them standing in queue everywhere and getting all kinds of permits to do small little things," said Newton adding that in contrast the Australian population is a bit aggressive and difficult to be easily hypnotized.

"The United States government is easily looking into emails and text message of its citizens in the name of freedom, democracy and security threat. This spying has a commercial aspect too as the same data is used for targeted election campaigns," said Newton, who has hypnotized over 60,000 people worldwide, including many famous names in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Newton, who has over 6,000 stage and television performances under his belt, said that in the UK like in the US, hypnotism has become a massive industry.

"Thirty years ago, there were just 400 hypnotists in the UK. Now, there are over 4,500 hypnotists, including those enrolled with the UK's national health scheme," said Newton, a senior lecturer in hypnosis at the Hypnoseakademiet in Norway, Europe's premier hypnosis and EFT training school.

"The word 'hypnosis' has always brought a sense of mystery and magic in our minds, but it is a complete science of the subconscious itself. It can't cure cancer but it is very useful for dealing with stress or combat insomnia," he said.

To learn about Identity Theft, contact www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Partial amount recovered after a year long battle, says a cyber crime victim!

A clearing agent, who lost Rs 20 lakh in a matter of half an hour to cyber crime, has got back only a part of the amount after fighting a year-long battle. However, the police are yet to make any headway in the case and find out the culprits.

The Ballard Pier Metropolitan court recently ordered release of Rs4.89 lakh to Rajesh Rele from one of the banks, where the stolen money had been transferred in smaller amounts via net-banking. Rele has been asked to furnish a personal bond, which means that he is under the obligation of returning the money if any claimant comes forward and is notified as the rightful owner.

Gamdevi resident Rele is a partner in M/s Eastern Clearing and Forwarding Agency. To make payment towards custom duties he had activated the phone banking option, allowed by his bank in Fort.
              

On May 16, 2013, Rele received a missed call on his mobile phone. When he returned the call, he found that an unknown person was on the other side. Few hours later, Rele's mobile phone services were suspended. Concerned, he contacted his mobile operator. He was surprised to learn that his service had been deactivated on 'his' request.

Rele informed his mobile operator that he had not placed any request to deactivate his service. It was then he was asked to check whether his bank account was secure. To Rele's dismay, a total of Rs 20 lakh had been usurped and the money had been transferred to different accounts in bank in Delhi and Kolkata through netbanking.

He rushed to his bank and directed the accounts to be freezed. A Delhi account where Rs 7 lakh was transferred was with the same bank as his. Thus the amount was claimed within few days. However, the remaining money had been moved to accounts in private banks and to accounts of individuals.

Advocate P Runwal, who appeared for Rele, told the court that his though his client went to the cybercrime police station at Bandra Kurla Complex, they refused to entertain his complaint. Rele then approached the MRA marg police station, which a registered an FIR after 12 days.

"Till now there has been no headway in the investigation and the only assistance received from the police is that they wrote letters to the bank to freeze the accounts," Runwal informed the court.

Rele then started writing to banks regarding recovery of his money. A private bank that had received Rs4.89 lakh in the account of one of its customers from Rele's account asked him to get a court notice before it could share the client's details. Notices were then sent to the person, asking him to appear before the court.

After a hearing over months the court finally accepted Runwal's arguments that even after serving notice to the person, in whose account Rs4.89 lakh had been deposited, there was no response and thus the money should be released.
To learn about Identity Theft, visit www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Thieves may E-shop with your credit data!

MUMBAI: The Cuffe Parade police on Sunday detained three suspects from Uttar Pradesh who had conspired and executed a credit card fraud in Mumbai. The accused targeted at least 60 customers of a bank in Navy Nagar and shopped online for goods worth over Rs 13 lakh, said police.

Krishna Prakash, additional commissioner of police, south region, said, "We had earlier arrested an accused, Krishna Pandey, who had come to take delivery of the orders placed on the Web. During his interrogation, we learned that the main accused, Sonu Yadav (21), was hiding in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. The gang targeted customers of Central Bank of India, Navy Nagar branch." 

The police are in the process of getting the suspects to Mumbai. "A bank official lodged the police complaint after they received several complaints of money being deducted from the accounts of some customers," said a police source. 

"They would order TV sets, fridges, high-end mobile phones, IPads and other costly electronics items online. Their intention was to purchase online and sell these goods immediately. It's still not clear how they got the credit cards' 16-digit numbers and passwords," said an officer. Those detained in Gorakhpur include Yadav, his accomplice Harish Pandey and two others. 

A computer and hard disc have also been seized. Police said that the accused managed to obtain the 16-digit credit card numbers and hacked into the bank's system to get the password. 

Twenty-six-year-old Pandey, the arrested accused, is a class XII dropout. He told the police that he was jobless and came in touch with Yadav, who was also from his hometown. Pandey reportedly asked Yadav for a job to earn livelihood. Yadav asked him to collect products for customers of online shopping. Pandey was promised a commission. He was arrested when he went to take delivery of a TV set. 
               

While a waiting police team caught Pandey, Yadav managed to flee from the spot in Thane last week. The accused have been booked for cheating (Section 420 of IPC) and hacking (Section 66 of IT act). Yadav is said to be a diploma holder in computer studies. The gang first committed the fraud in October and continued till January this year. "We have managed to spot several transactions wherein the accused had placed orders. We have recovered some products and are hoping for more," said the police. 

O P Shrivastav, the bank's assistant general manager asked this correspondent to talk to his deputy Ayyubi, general manager (credit cards). Ayyubi could not be contacted. 

To learn about Identity Theft, visit www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Phishing Attacks!

What could set the alarm bells ringing for the Indian banking system is the revelation that there has been a six-fold rise in phishing attacks on the country's lenders during the last four months alone.

Phishing is a form of internet fraud that aims to steal valuable information such as credit card details, social security numbers, user IDs and passwords for financial gains.

The fraud is executed through spoof emails and fake websites that prompt users to disclose their personal details.

The 24X7 Security Response Lab of Pune-based internet security firm Symantec found that in October last year, there were 20 unique attacks on Indian banks while the figure has grown to 120 attacks as of January, 2008.

"The attacks are now becoming more localised, subtle and target-specific... The increase in the number of attacks reflects that they are getting successful," said Prabhat Kumar, director, Security Response, Symantec.

From fame, the phishers are now turning towards making a fortune, he added.
             

The Symantec lab monitors the complete threat spectrum and malware activity all across the world. It provides support in 14 languages against phishers who are extensively using sophisticated methods to install spyware, Trojans, worms and viruses.

But, it is not actually a security breach for the bank.

"The banks have put in the best possible security but it is the unsuspecting user on whose back the phishers enter the system," Singh said.

The latest Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec had ranked Mumbai as the most notorious in India in terms of phishing sites with 38 per cent, followed by New Delhi with 29 per cent.

Even Tier-II cities like Bhopal, Surat, Pune and Noida too had reports about phishing site activity.

"Surprisingly, a large number of home PC users do not even have a basic security feature," Singh said.

The report highlighted that the malicious code in India included 57 per cent worms and 21 per cent virus attacks but even complex threads like Trojan made for about 20 per cent of the attacks.

Recently, leading private sector lender HDFC Bank had filed a police complaint against a "money mule" scammer. The accused had used a bank customer as a mule to transfer money, acquired through phishing attacks, to different accounts.

Even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had advised the public not to succumb to the temptation of fictitious offers of large funds through e-mails from unknown entities.

"Members of public should also not make any remittance towards participation in such schemes/offers from unknown entities," it had said in a recent notification.

The RBI has issued the warning to caution individuals who initially receive tempting offers of large funds on various pretexts from unknown overseas entities through e-mails and letters and are later requested to remit a small amount as commission for transfer of the money.

To learn about Identity Theft, contact www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Improved Technology Increases Vulnerability To Cyber Crime, Cops

Technology has made life easier for all, but this has also increased vulnerability to cyber crime. For instance, with smartphones and easy accessibility of the internet on it, Thane cyber crime cell has seen an increase in cyber crimes.

Cyber crime includes crime done through mobile phones, social networking sites, credit and debit card transaction.

On the condition of anonymity, an officer from cyber cell said, "Though the internet was introduced to minimise time, today many people are misusing it. With young children getting access to smartphones easily, they start surfing various sites and in turn indulge in unlawful activities."

"Parents should not give mobile phones to kids unless there is some emergency," he adds.

Specifying the types of crime committed through the internet, he says, "Facebook and bank fraud casea are on the rise. People make fake profile and then lure someone for cash and for other purposes. Crimes through WhatsApp and other software are, however, very less."
                 

He added, "There was a juvenile boy who used to call on unknown number and when we identified him he accepted watching porn clips on his father's cell phone. As his father was not tech savvy, he was not aware of what his son was up to. The matter came to light when one day this boy called a random girl and asked her for sexual favours. The girl approached the police and got the boy arrested. He was later sent to remand home."

Deputy commissioner of police (cyber cell) Sudhakar Pathares said, "The cases have increased in the last three years. By the time we come up with an efficient way of detecting the culprits, they come up with the new a tactic. We are trying to curb such activities, but technology is growing at a faster rate and it is not easy to control them."

He added, "We have tracked so many cases and are trying to minimise cyber crimes, but with changing technology and new software it's a challenge. For instance, on WhatsApp allows you to seen when the person was last seen. This helps us detect some cases."


To learn about Identity theft, visit- www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Online banking frauds can come to an end by new software

Scientists have developed a new software to prevent malware from sending spam emails and instant messages while blocking unauthorised money transfers.

Researchers at Georgia Tech have created a prototype software, Gyrus, that takes extra steps to prevent malware from sending spam emails and instant messages, and blocking unauthorised commands such as money transfers.

Current protection programmes might recognise the original user's intent to send email, transfer money or engage in other transactions but cannot verify the specifics such as email contents or amount of money.

Without context, it is impossible to properly verify the user's full intent, regardless of whether the software is protecting a financial transfer, an industrial control system or a wide range of other user-driven applications.

Gyrus is a transparent layer on top of the window of an application. The user experience with the application will be exactly the same as when Gyrus is not installed or activated.

Of course, if Gyrus detects that user-intended data has tampered with, it will block the traffic and also notify the user.

The research is based on the observation that for most text-based applications, the user's intent will be displayed entirely on screen, as text, and the user will make modifications if what is on screen is not what he or she wants.

Users help Gyrus do its job by establishing pre-defined rules that help the software determine whether commands - authorised or not - fit with established user intentions.

The idea of defining correct behaviour of an application by capturing user intent is not entirely new, but previous attempts in this space use an overly simplistic model of the user's behaviour.

For example, they might infer a user's intent based on a single mouse click without capturing any associated context so the attackers can easily disguise attacks as a benign behaviour.

           

Instead, Gyrus captures richer semantics including both user actions and text contents, along with applications semantics, to make the system send only user-intended network traffic. Gyrus indirectly but correctly determines user intent from the screen that is displayed to the user.

There are two key components to Gyrus' approach. First, it captures the user's intent and interactions with an application. Second, it verifies that the resulting output can be mapped back to the user's intention. As a result, the application ensures accurate transactions even in the presence of malware.

To learn about Identity theft, visit- www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Internet Leading To Increase In Cyber Crime,says Parliament Study

New Delhi: The hacking and defacing of websites in India has “highly perturbed” a Parliamentary Committee which examined the issue of cyber crimes and cyber security and found that 3,911 India’s websites were defaced or hacked upto June 2013 and majority of these which was around 2667 out of 3911 attacks were the ‘.in’ domain whose servers were in India.

In its 52nd Report, the Standing Committee on Information Technology tabled in Parliament on Wednesday found that while the usage of internet has facilitated transparency and greater accountability, it has at the same time led to increasing forms of cyber crime and cyber threat each day with newer challenges for data protection and security.

This assumes significance since the internet user base has increased to 100 million and total broadband subscriber base has increased to 12.69 million. The target for broadband connections in the current year is 22 million.

Today the country has 134 major ISPs, 10 million registered domain names of one million are  ‘.in’  domains and over 260 data centers all over the country.

In its 83-page report, the Committee chaired by Rao Inderjit Singh expressed concern over the consistent increase in cyber crime cases in the country during the last five years.
           

It said according to the record of  cyber-crime data maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 420, 966, 1791 and 2876 Cyber Crime cases were registered under the Information Technology Act during the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The report said that a total of 276, 356, 422 and 601 cases were registered under Cyber Crime related sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC)  during  2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. respectively.

The Committee found it disquieting that the quantum of financial loss and privacy related cases in the country due to cyber attack and fraud in the last few years have increased.

The Report said that according to the Reserve Bank of India in the last five years though the number of fraud cases reported by Banks on account of ATM Debit Cards/Credit Cards and Internet have decreased from 15018 in 2010 to 8322 in 2012, yet the amount involved had increased from Rs 40.48 crore to /Rs 52.67 crore in 2012.

However, the Committee was of the view that the reported number of cases involving financial fraud due to cyber related cases is just the tip of the iceberg as a number of cases go unnoticed and unreported.

The Committee expressed unhappiness over the involvement of too many agencies maintaining separate data on cyber crime cases and felt that there should be one single, centralized cell or agency to deal with all cases of cyber crime or threat in the country.

Having one agency to look after cyber crimes and cyber threats, the Committee said would not only help the Department in knowing the pattern of the crime but also prevent recurrence of same kind of crimes with newer strategies.

It felt that the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DIETY) should work in this direction and apprise the Committee of the action taken in this regard.
To learn about Identity theft, visit- www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Cyber crime can be hold in by Hackers.

RANCHI: Identifying the potential of cyber threat in future warfare, a group of ethical hackers led by cyber buff and founder National Anti-hacking Group (NAG) Vineet Kumar in partnership with Jharkhand police, state Unicef and NGO Citizen foundation launched Cyber Peace Foundation here on Saturday.

The foundation aims at creating awareness about the potential risks involved in handling of internet and internet-based services among commoners and government organizations. With widespread awareness, the group expressed confidence about the introduction of suitable legislation and norms for regulations to safeguard vital installations.

S N Pradhan, additional director general, CID, Jharkhand police, who has been instrumental in the establishment of the country's first cyber defence research cell (CDRC) in the state said cyber space is a network that integrates government and private organisations as well as individuals throwing the system open to attacks and a concerted effort was necessary to counter attacks.

          

"Many countries have engaged thousands of hackers just to gate crash into vital information from government installations, which have no practical wall to be protected once they are working on the platform of internet communication," he said. Further, explaining the potential threat, Vineet said as part of a project taken up by CDRC Jharkhand, as many as one lakh computers, most of them being used by cyber cafes and private individuals were found to be afflicted with 'botnet', which is a term used in the cyber world for robotic hackers.

"Since the number of pirated software being used in Jharkhand is quite high, the vulnerability of the computers is also high and they could be easily compromised by hackers to attack on any vital installation within or outside the country," he said.

While the CDRC received huge number of complains related to credit and debit card fraud, impersonation on social networking sites and webcast of explicit material without consent, the cyber peace foundation expressed concern about bigger threats ahead. "Though we do not have evidence due to limitations of investigation conducted, experts of cyber world are almost confident that the historical failure of northern grid in July 2012 was masterminded by hackers who gained access to the control system," said Pradhan.

To begin with, the foundation has launched a cyber peace month for which a campaign vehicle was flagged off by Pradhan and state head, Jharkhand Unicef chief Job Zachariah, who joined the drive in consideration of children who fall prey to sexual offence emanating on the virtual platform. "The Prevention of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012 mentions punitive clause for exposing children to such contents on the internet and awareness is necessary for effective implementation of the act," he said.
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Source: Secondary

Financial services in danger because of cyber crime

Cyber crime is a “growing threat” globally and the second most commonly reported economic crime affecting financial-services firms, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It accounted for 38% of criminal incidents for financial companies compared with 16% in other business sectors, the accounting firm said in a report.

About half of the financial-services respondents said the potential risk of cyber attacks has risen over the past 12 months compared with 36% in other sectors. “Cyber crime puts the financial sector’s customers, brand and reputation at significant risk,” Andrew Clark, forensic services partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers said in the statement. “Regulators are increasingly viewing cyber crime as a key area of focus and financial institutions are expected to have appropriate systems and controls in place.”
                  

Cyber crime involves the use of computers or the internet and includes the theft of personal information, industrial espionage, reputational damage, financial theft and the disruption of services. About 29% of financial-firm respondents didn’t receive cyber security training, PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

Asset misappropriation such as embezzlement and deception by employees remains the most popular way of committing fraud in an organisation, the survey found.
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Source: Secondary