Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Cyber attacks likely to increase, says expert

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

TIMELY WARNING: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan inaugurates Cyber Safety Week 2007 on Thursday.

Thiruvananthapuram: Inspector General of Police Ashok Dohare, a cyber security expert, on Thursday said that cyber attacks on India’s digital infrastructure and information networks are likely to increase in the coming years.

Speaking at a seminar on cyber safety organised by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) here in connection with Cyber Safety Week 2007, he said the perpetrators of such attacks could be anybody ranging from disgruntled employees to divisive forces.

He said viruses and worms (software programmes that harm computers) have increased in number from 445 known types in 2002 to 7,360 in 2004. Cleverly modified viruses are capable of infiltrating networks and destroying specific computers by identifying the time, date or other parameters to which they are set.

Similarly, self replicating software programmes (worms) hidden in e-mails are capable of destroying a computer by overwhelming its capacity. Cyber terrorists often deface websites and mount denial of service attacks to strike terror.

Mr. Dohare said information technology (IT) wars of the future will be fought on the cyber front. The philosophy of the planners of Third World War (if there is one) will be to cripple the digital infrastructure of the enemy, possibly by directing a worm at its core.

Inaugurating the meet, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said that computer and Internet users were increasingly becoming vulnerable to cyber crime, partly because of their own negligence. He said law enforcers should harness the latest technology to fight cyber crime.

Information Secretary Ajay Kumar said IT made life easier but also increased the scope for mischief mongers to wreak havoc.

Inspector General of Police (Administration) M.N. Krishnamurthy said an increasing number of citizens, particularly women, were becoming victims of cyber crime with the spread of the Internet.

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