Reiterating that cyber crime operators are now the world’s biggest organised crime syndicate, larger than drug mafias, Special Inspector General of Police (Cyber Crimes department, government of Maharashtra) Yashasvi Yadav said on Thursday that cybercrime threatens everything, from smartphones to bank accounts to hacking of pacemakers to bring on cardiac arrest and to hacking of nuclear reactors to set off missiles, thus endangering national security.
“Cybercrime has cost the world US $ 6 trillion in costs and revenue losses,” said Yadav.
He was speaking on the subject of ‘The Digital Criminal’ at an exclusive event organised by The Free Press Journal newspaper through its ‘CyberSecure’ initiative at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management preventive measures for citizens to thwart cyber crimes Studies, Churchgate.
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai | VGP
Preventive measures for citizens to thwart cyber crimes
Yadav engaged management and finance students of the institute in a 20-minute talk followed by an interactive session with students whose questions delved into subjects such as the Dark Web, preventive measures for citizens to thwart cyber crimes and government legislation to keep pace with the huge explosion in the incidence of cybercrime in India.
Yadav spoke briefly about the malware Pegasus developed by Israel company NSO group, a ‘zero-click’ malware that can take over all admin controls of a device once installed, to eavesdrop on communications, text, chats and camera and microphones. He explained how law enforcement agencies cracked the case in which a large power outage was caused in Mumbai by a cyber-sabotage event; about the Mumbai police’s efforts to protect the life and privacy of a journalist who fell victim to such a malware attack.
Special Inspector General of Police (Cyber Crimes department, government of Maharashtra) Yashasvi Yadav with Abhishek Karnani. | VGP
"Cybercrime is now committed in factory-like set-ups with..."
“Cyber criminals are no longer one computer savant sitting at a desk and feverishly typing away,” Yadav said. “Cybercrime is now committed in factory-like set-ups where hundreds are employed on salaries, with weekends off, to commit cybercrimes.”
VGP
He said the low entry cost into cybercrime is a reason for its lucrative nature, along with the lack of awareness among citizens on how to protect themselves from such crimes. The CyberSecure event at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute was organised with support from Kotak Bank and the Mumbai Police.
