Hyderabad: A big chunk of cyber crime related cases in the city are of people using sophisticated malware and spyware in mobile handsets, especially by couples and former couples for spying on each other. Meanwhile malware is becoming stealthier by the day and it takes a while before a person realises that one is a target. Out of the total number of cases, including those for financial gains, around 50 per cent are relationship-based cases, which are constantly on the rise.
From recording conversations to SMS, contact numbers, last dialed list and timings to recording every single search on the search engine, spyware and malware can leave one with no privacy at all. They can also crash a mobile or a laptop. Stalking meanwhile is one of the most common use of social media and it’s not confined to criminals but also friends, potential partners, previous partners, neighbours, colleagues and employers who use social media for getting information about a person.
“Creating fake ids of estranged spouses and ex girlfriends and boyfriends on social media and targeting each other is on the rise. In about 50 per cent of the cases that come to us, it is an estranged partner trying to get back at each other through spying, hacking passwords or creating fake ids to malign the partner.
Also individual targeting takes place among corporate employees to malign somebody and get ahead in the office,” said DCP central crime station, G. Pala Raju.
There are very sophisticated malware available in the market, which once installed, does not leave behind any trace.
As per the 12th Plan report of sub group on Cyber Security released by the department of electronics and IT: “Today adversaries are producing, selling and distributing malicious code with ease, maximizing their gains and exploiting the fact that attribution is a challenge. Malware is getting stealthier, more targeted, multi-faceted and extremely difficult to analyse and defeat even by experts in the security field.”
Also, malware can be designed specifically for smartphones just like they are designed for PCs. As the use of computers, mobile devices and the internet has grown, so have the opportunities for blackmailers and other criminals to benefit from creating computer malware for phones.
“One of the ways to understand if the pho-ne has a spyware insta-lled is to be keep note of whether the phone suddenly switches off on its own even when the battery is not low. Also if there are frequent disturbances in the phone voice, it is possible that the conversation is being recorded,” says cyber security expert, Ankit Fadia.
Ground rules
- Always password protect your handset
- Apps should only be downloaded from legitimate app stores.
- Suspicious apps like fake bbm app should be avoided
- Never download pirated apps
- Never click on suspicious mails or links
- Be careful about words like viruses, worms, Trojans in the links that require downloading
Know the Malware
- DroidKungFu is able to avoid detection by antimalware software and installs a backdoor in the Android OS that allows hackers to gain full control over a user’s mobile device.
- DroidDream malware can send user information to a remote server.
- Android.PJapps can disguise itself as legitimate applications.
- Geinimi sends out a user’s location and app list to a remote server and can download apps.
- Zitmo can hack user’s bank accounts via a mobile device
Who uses them
- Computer Handlers: Skilled students, professional developers and researchers
- Petty thieves: mostly targets computers and laptops by creating types of Trojans – that steal account information
- Cyber criminals: Steal access codes to bank accounts, advertise products or services on a victim’s computer, iIllegally use an infected computer’s resources to develop and run Spam campaigns, Distributed Network Attacks (also called DDoS attacks) and other Blackmailing operations
- Cyber Bullies: targets mobile phones and laptops to steal private information
- Grey Marketers: grey market businesses will use hacker program techniques in order to access the user’s computer, without the user’s knowledge and resist the actions of antivirus programs.
