Are The Police Listening?

July 31: Naavi has already informed both the Police in Karnataka and CERT about the need to ban the infamous s_bhabhi site. However true to the expectations, neither of them seem to be interested. Now that Police have enough on their hands to chase the false e-mail leads on terrorist activities, s_bhabhi is surely not in their agenda. But let me make my point. This is as dangerous to the Indian society as the bombs that are bursting like crackers all over India.

I have received an e-mail today from one of the parents of an affected child which indicates that the boy has even been booked under Section 67 of ITA 2000 for being influenced by the site. But will the Police recognize that it is the influencer who needs to be punished more than the influenced?.. More

July 26: Naavi addressing SICC meeting in Chennai and speaking on Cyber Crimes

 

 

 

 

Smart Mobile Phones are a Security Risk

July 21: Security experts have expressed grave concern about mobile phone viruses which can attack smart phones. They say that viruses can be sent through SMS and can be used to snoop on the owner. Article in TOI : Related Article on IMEI Spoofing

Supreme Court issues notices to DGPs

July 19: It is a common grievance of the citizens that police officers in charge of Police stations play around with their powers when a citizen approaches them for filing a complaint. If the complainant is not influential or if the Police feel that the case may be difficult to solve, they tend to avoid registration of the complaint. At best they will be sympathetic to the complainant and provide him some psychological re assurance. At the worst they may drive out the complainant stating that the complaint is not maintainable. In between there would be neutral officers who will receive the complaint and eventually dispose it off through the dustbin.

Naavi.org has been for a long time fighting for the right of a complainant (in the cyber crime area) to lodge a complaint. Cases have been reported in Bangalore earlier where the police officers have thrown a copy of ITA 2000 at the complainant and challenged him to show the section under which the complaint is chargeable and intimidate them to the extent that complainants stop approaching the police station again.

It is heartening to note that the Supreme Court has now sent notices to all States to ensure that in cases that the erring officers be prosecuted and sent to jail for neglecting duty. After the new DGP has taken over in Karnataka, an effort is being made for online complaint registration through the website http://www.ksp.gov.in. But the activation of the system is awaited. We request that Karnataka Police should open this facility at the earliest and ensure that every complaint filed through the website (Both for cyber crimes and others) should be immediately acknowledged with a complaint number. A few suggestions on this system is given here in.. Details

Canadian Court Rules against QuebecTorrent.com

July 15: Quebec Superior Court Justice Pierre Tessier issued the permanent injunction closing QuebecTorrent.com on Wednesday and ordered its operator, Sébastien Brulotte, to refrain from being involved in "any technology allowing the download of any work protected by copyright.".. Details in national post.com

Karnataka Police Takes the technology leap

July 11: As expected, the advent of  Sri R.Srikumar as the DGP of Karnataka has opened up a new era in the state Police where technology will be harnessed for better Governance. The implementation of e-Governance in Karnataka police has started with the launching of the website http://www.ksp.gov.in already with some innovations. The first innovation is the opening of the "Crimestoppers.org", an effort to enlist the support of the public as the extended intelligence of the Police.

The second and the most important development for which Naavi.org had been urging for a long time is the announcement that an "Online Complaint Lodging Mechanism" would be launched shortly... More

 

Deccan Herald Liable under Section 43 of ITA 2000

July 11: Naavi.org reported on Jule 19th about the Deccan Herald (A popular news paper in Karnataka, India) website being classified as an "Attack Site" by Google. Despite this publication and having been aware, Deccan Herald has not yet secured their site and the site continues to be tagged an attack site by Google till date. (Refer Screenshots here)

We take this opportunity to highlight the necessity for all public websites to monitor such events and take necessary action as otherwise they would be liable under Section 43 (C) of ITA 2000 for paying compensation to each of the visitors who suffer damages on account of the malicious code... Details

[P.S: Deccan Herald has removed the offending picture after the notice. Naavi 14/7/08]

Missouri Defines Cyber Bullying as a Crime

July 9: The incident in Missourie where an young school student committed suicide after being be-friended as a boy and rejection, by the mother of her friend, (Lori Drew) has prompted the state to pass a new law to make harassment of this kind punishable.  The offence has been defined as

The new law penalizes those who knowingly communicate with another person who is, or who purports to be, seventeen years of age or younger and recklessly frightens, intimidates, or causes emotional distress to such other person.  Also, the new law makes it a crime "to engage, without good cause, in any other act with the purpose to frighten, intimidate, or cause emotional distress to another person, cause such person to be frightened, intimidated, or emotionally distressed, and such person's response to the act is one of a person of average sensibilities considering the person's age."

The law modifies the term "harasses" to include: "conduct directed at a specific person that serves no legitimate purpose that would cause a reasonable person to be frightened or intimidated, as well as emotionally distressed. A person need only harass a person purposely, rather than purposely and repeatedly, to commit the crime of stalking or aggravated stalking."

The law also defines a "credible threat" as "those made with the intent to cause the person who is the target to reasonably fear for his or her family's safety or family's pet's or livestock's safety, and not only his or her own safety."

The law also defines a "credible threat" as "those made with the intent to cause the person who is the target to reasonably fear for his or her family's safety or family's pet's or livestock's safety, and not only his or her own safety."   Article in ibls.com : copy of the bill

Banks are Liable for Phishing Attacks..  German Court

July 8: The views of Naavi.org regarding the liabilities of Banks for phishing as been endorsed in a decision by a German Court. A judgment of the Amtsgericht (lowest court) at Wiesloch says the banks are responsible for damages arising from unauthorized interception of confidential data (phishing).

In the recent adjudication application made at Chennai, the Bank damages have been claimed from the Bank for the reason that Bank had by virtue of several of its reckless practices contributed to the fraud. The same argument which has been stated in the case, viz, "Once it is proved that a withdrawal instruction was forged, there is no liability on the customer", has been used in the adjudication application also. This was the first occasion in India when a Bank was accused of a phishing fraud where normally the victim is dubbed as a contributory cause and denied compensation. Report in  computer weekly.com

Seechange To Partner with Cyber Law College

July 8: Seechange Consulting, Chennai, a company engaged in IT related training has tied up with Cyber Law College to market the online courses of Cyber Law College. Details are available at http://www.seechangeworld.in/cyberlaw

Google Compromises with Brazil.. Why Not with India?

July 6: Google signed an agreement with Brazilian public prosecutors on Wednesday to help combat child pornography on its social networking site Orkut. Under the agreement, Google will use filters to remove and prevent illegal content on Orkut, and will also facilitate evidence gathering under judicial order in suspected crimes against children and teen-agers on Orkut without the need for international legal accords. Google will also preserve for six months access logs of users being investigated for illegal conduct.

The arrangement is to be appreciated and we urge the Indian Government to pressurise Google to accept a similar arrangement for India.. Report in msnbc

Cyber Justice In deed!

July 5: In what should be one of the first kind of punishments, a judge in in US gave a perfect Cyber Sentence to two kids who committed an offence in physical space, filmed it and posted it in You Tube as an "Achievement". The culprits were traced using Cyber evidence trail they had left and in an interesting sentence the Judge declared that the offenders have to tender an apology which should be filmed and posted in You Tube.

What is highly appreciable in this judgment is that the Judge has realized that the offenders had an "Image" to protect in the You Tube and perhaps would not feel the pain if they are given a sentence only in physical space. The move would also teach a lesson to other such youngsters who think that achievement in life is posting of some daring (even if illegal) act on the You Tube. Detailed Article in post-gazette.com

Impersonation of Film Personalities

July 04: Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actor Paresh Rawal have complained to the city police alleging that some unidentified persons are impersonating them on a social networking site. It is reported that investigations are on.

Report in Hindu

Jury Convicts Web Site Operator in P2P Case

July 2: Daniel Dove, 26, formerly of Clintwood, Virginia, faces a maximum sentence in prison for his participation in EliteTorrents.org, a Web site that specialized in releasing copyright works without authorization. EliteTorrents, which ceased operating in May 2005, used BitTorrent peer-to-peer technology to distribute pirated copies of movies, software, music and video games. A jury in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia was presented with evidence that Dove was an administrator of a small group of EliteTorrents members known as "Uploaders," who were responsible for supplying pirated content to the group. Article in NYT

Techsavvy DGP in Karnataka

July 1: Karnataka will have a new DGP from today. Mr C Srikumar who is taking over as DGP/IG, is a technology wizard of a rare kind who always finds a good way to use technology. During his stint in KSPHC, he implemented e-Governance in the department to introduce e-tenders and increased the profitability of the organization. During his brief stint as acting DGP during the recent elections, he again showed his magic touch in maintaining a statewide law and order information site to report district wise incident reporting. Now Mr Srikumar will have 6 months of uninterrupted stint as DGP and it is hoped that there will be a total transformation of the Karnataka Police system.

Naavi.org has long been suggesting an online complaint registration system so that members of public can file a complaint and take a complaint registration number online.  This will eliminate the power of the local police person to use his discretion and reject registration of complaints.  Once registered, the complaint can be followed up by the system and force the relevant police officer to take up investigation and file his report either for or against registration of FIR. This will at least automate the process.

This process will reduce corruption and increase efficiency. Since all members of public may not be tech savvy to file a complaint with say digitally signed complaints, it is necessary to introduce a system where the complaint can be filed by a public spirited person on behalf of the complainant using his digital signature. In such a case, the person who assists in the complaint can be treated as an "Intermediary" under the ITA 2000 having responsibility only to identify the complainant with reference to some ID documents such as a ration card etc.

It may be noted that Srikumar as an architect of the famed Cyber Crime Police Station in Bangalore introduced an online complaint registration system with the use of Digital Signatures (or at least provided for the same) way back in 2000. However the system was promptly dismantled after his shift. We hope this time around he would take steps to ensure that the good measures that he may take  continue even after his tenure.

Naavi.org conveys its good wishes the new DGP and look forward to long felt changes which citizens of Karnataka are waiting for.

Crime ware as a Service Model

June 29: Experts are predicting that trojans that download from legitimate websites (Refer Deccan Herald incident reported here on June 19) will be a serious threat in 2008 to the Cyber world. It is reported that the Olympics in China would be used as an opportunity to distribute malicious trojans through information sites. It is also reported that Criminals have started extensive collaboration to the extent that after downloading one malicious code, the user is often redirected to another malicious website. New real time security monitoring services are therefore required for web based activities in the coming days. Report in BS