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There has been a significant increase in cybercrime against women, especially sextortion, during the Covid-19-induced lockdown with “caged criminals” attacking them online, experts say.
The national blockade imposed from March 25 to April 14, and then extended until May 3, aims to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus that has claimed 1,147 lives and infected 35,043 people in the country.
According to data from the National Commission for Women (NCW), 54 cyber crime complaints were received online in April compared to 37 complaints, received online and by mail, in March, and 21 complaints in February. The panel is receiving online complaints due to blocking.
Cyber experts, however, said the numbers are just the “tip of the iceberg.”
“We received a total of 412 genuine cyber abuse complaints from March 25 to April 25. Of these, up to 396 complaints were from women, (and these) ranged from abuse, indecent exposure, obscene unsolicited images, threats, malicious emails claiming that their account was hacked, ransom demands, blackmail and more, “said the founder of the Akancha Foundation, Akancha Srivastava.
The organization works for the education and empowerment of people by imparting knowledge about cyber security. Srivastava said that, on average, he has received between 20 and 25 of those complaints daily, whereas before closing the number was less than 10 per day. This is a “significant” increase, he said.
“This is just the frustration and anger that is arising, as there is no other release at this time. This is a form of frustration as they (cybercriminals) are caged right now, “he said.” Men are transforming images and threatening women. There is a whole scandal going on where women receive these emails that they have Your phone and laptop are hacked, and if you don’t deposit money in my account, I will send your transformed images and share them with all your contacts, “added Srivastava.
Vineet Kumar, founder and president of the Cyber Peace Foundation, said that especially cases of “sextortion” have increased during the shutdown.
Sextortion is extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity through media such as transformed images.
“People are building relationships online, as they are under lockdown and report sextortion cases to us,” he said.
Kumar said that these days people connect through technology but forgetting about the security component.
“Right after the shutdown, we saw an increase in cases of misinformation, fake news, and deceived women online when they click on malware links that get all their information on the phone, turn on the camera and microphone, and capture their moments. intimate. Then they are used to blackmail ”, he added.
Many women do not want to file official complaints in these cases, she said.
“Cyber Peace has been receiving complaints through its channels and people have been found to be reluctant to file complaints. They want us to handle things unofficially, “said Kumar. “Whatever the official number that is quoted is just the tip of the iceberg, as most women do not report cybercrime because they are concerned about the social stigma associated with it,” she said.
Vandana Verma, founder of InfoSec Girls, said that when the entire country is closed, people work from home and spend a lot of time on the internet. So even cybercriminals are becoming innovative and skillful in their techniques, he said.
“How to send specific phishing emails or thematic emails for the current situation of COVID-19 to people and obtain their confidential data such as address, telephone numbers. These emails appear to come from legitimate sources such as the government in the form of notices when they are in no way related to the government in any way, “Verma said.
“Fake profiling, cyber bullying, online bullying are bigger challenges right now. The callous comments in the posts are also intimidating, ”he said.
Verma reported that such cyber crimes can be prevented through technology education.
“How to use digital media securely, create a strong password, and spread awareness about phishing emails, fake videos, and securely sharing content on the Internet can go a long way in protecting women,” she said. NCW President Rekha Sharma said it is often observed that there is a lack of awareness among women about where to communicate when something happens.
“There are cyber police officers in each district who can be contacted. They can also contact us if they need help, ”he said.
He advised women to be careful in cyberspace. “We are talking to women about how to protect themselves in cyberspace. We advise women not to share their photos or personal details on social networks, as it is not safe. Women must realize that sometimes the people they know can also take advantage of them, “said Verma. CSC e-Governance Services India, which is licensed to provide Internet services, reported an increase in data consumption to 4.7 terabytes (TB) as of March 30 from 2.7 TB on March 10.
“Based on the growth trend, data consumption on the CSC SPV network is estimated to have increased by almost 100 percent to date,” CSC SPV CEO Dinesh Tyagi told PTI on April 5. He said a significant increase in data consumption has increased. logged since time lock started.
There are over 60 million internet users in India and of these, around 29 million are in rural areas.
