According to WhatsApp, the spyware was developed by Israel-based NSO Group and had been used to snoop on about 1,400 users globally, including 121 users from India.
Facebook blocked 5,832 pieces of content during July-December 2014 on orders of the Indian government.
Experts said attempts from China have increased in the last year, which further amplified after the Indian government banned Chinese applications post the Galwan clash.
'It is the responsibility of industry to take the very bright talent whose knowledge of software engineering basics is very high, and then give them additional skills.'
The Indian Air Force has asked its personnel and their families not to use Chinese 'Xiaomi Redmi 1s' phones, as it believes these phones could be transferring data to their servers in China and hence be a security risk.
Even as India's internet base continues to widen, with the country set to have over 900 internet users by 2025, a parallel rise in cyber threats has become a matter of huge concern. Experts say that the sudden surge in digital adoption left little time to develop a cybersecurity backbone for the country. This has put large amounts of data at risk.
The government has also demanded information on vulnerability exploited by attackers and modus operandi of the attack, and sought details of remedial measures taken by Twitter to mitigate the impact of the hacking incident.
The Indian authorities feared that these apps were transferring consumer data to locations outside the country, especially China, in an unauthorised and surreptitious manner. With servers in India, the data of local consumers would be stored in the country.
Sectoral cyber security teams to be set up to curb attacks, cyber coordination centre likely be set up in New Delhi by June.
Personal information such as name, gender, email address and phone numbers of some Akasa Air passengers has been leaked to "unauthorised individuals", the airline stated on Sunday. India's newest carrier said it self-reported this incident to Indian Computer Emergency Response Team CERT-In, which is the government-authorised nodal agency tasked to deal with matters of this nature. However, Akasa Air asserted that there was no "intentional hacking attempt, but that the situation was reported by a research expert through a journalist for which we are grateful".
While asserting that the CoWIN portal is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy, it said an internal exercise has been initiated to review the existing security measures of CoWIN.
India is the largest user base for Facebook outside the US with over 100 million users.
'If there are any incidents of cyberattacks, they should immediately inform CERT.'
It said the ransomware called 'WannaCry' or 'WannaCrypt' encrypts the computer's hard disk drive and then spreads laterally between computers on the same LAN.
A new mobile banking 'Trojan' virus -- SOVA -- which can stealthily encrypt an Android phone for ransom and is hard to uninstall is targeting Indian customers, the country's federal cyber security agency said in its latest advisory.
The government also wants to ensure that content meant for radicalising youths, from outfits like Islamic State, doesn't find circulation in India.
India needs to follow countries such as Singapore who have and are further bolstering their cyber security apparatus.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'They (the ransomware attackers) are not after any VVIP data.' 'Had that been the case, they would have quietly installed a different malware.'
Cyber security sleuths have alerted Indian internet users against hacking attempts of a clandestine multi-identity virus -Bladabindi -- which steals sensitive personal information of a user for nefarious purposes.
The virus possesses a unique ability to acquire a safe network domain id in order to falsely add itself to the firewall exclusion list and bypass a user's firewall mechanism.
A specialised force with 1,000 personnel to be formed in the state for the same.
With the use of e-wallets gaining momentum after the note ban, e-wallet service providers have doubled down on developing new security features in their apps. Sharath Chowdary reports.
India's snooping programme is officially underway and multiple agencies will use internet surveillance system Netra and National Cyber Coordination Centre to keep a tab on suspicious activities on the internet, says Vicky Nanjappa.
The NCW has written to the Delhi Police to expedite its action in the case against the 'Bulli Bai' app, floated for trolling and harassing the victims, to ensure that such crimes do not recur.
The Delhi police on Sunday registered a case based on a complaint filed by a woman journalist alleging that she was being targetted by an unidentified group of people on a mobile application named 'Bulli Bai' created on GitHub platform.
Home ministry sources say there are fears that international lobbies might have been involved in spying, to create a narrative around Indian governance as well as the economy.
The ED may soon register a money laundering case to probe if dubious funds were used for allegedly fuelling caste-based protests in the wake of the alleged gang-rape and death of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, officials said.
Amid increasing number of cyber attacks and snooping, the government on Tuesday announced the national cyber security policy that aims to protect information and build capabilities to prevent such attacks.
The country's cyber security agency CERT-In has advised Facebook users to strengthen their account privacy settings after a recent global 'data scraping' incident in the social media platform affected about 61 lakh Indians.
Cyber security sleuths have warned Indian Internet users against a potent Trojan virus in the social media and email circuit which stealthily encrypts important documents of the user and then asks for a 'ransom' to unlock proprietary messages.
The notice came after reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.
Domino's India data that included sensitive customer information such as their names, phone numbers, and credit card details has allegedly been breached and put on sale on the dark web. According to tweets by Israel-based Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, Alon Gal, the data is worth 13 terabytes (TB). He tweeted on Sunday that the data includes as many as 180 million order details, including 1 million credit card details. The data, said Gal, was up for sale on the dark web. The threat actor, he said, was asking for $550,000 for the data.
Given the security dilemma prevailing between India and China, India should curb the operation of Chinese telecom companies in India, asserts Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Cultivate a thirst for knowledge, explore online courses, attend workshops and network with peers. Embrace opportunities to learn new skills and stay updated about industry trends to remain relevant and future-proof your career, advises Manu Saigal, director-general, staffing, Adecco India.
Kapil Sibal said there will be multiple places from where cyber war could take place, it will involve individuals, sections of society, businesses, terrorists, drug dealers and those who want to generate violence.
The deadly virus has been identified as 'AndroidSmssend' and it can acquire as many as four aliases to hoodwink the user and perpetrate its destructive activities on a personal Android enabled phone.
The unidentified hackers had executed money transfers on two separate occasions - August 11 and August 13 - which raises the question of why pro-active measures were not taken on the first night itself
Cyber security sleuths have alerted Internet users in the country against phishing attacks from suspect digital signatures which got "unauthorisedly" issued through the state-owned National Informatics Centre.
The Delhi Commission For Women on Monday asked the police officials to appear before it later this week in connection with a probe into objectionable content on 'Bulli Bai' and 'Sulli Deal' apps.
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