Piracy websites stealing peroneal data: Police
Hyderabad: While the unsusceptible viewers enjoy watching movies on piracy websites such as torrents and ibomma, they could be losing their digital data to those websites and eventually become prey for cyber fraud, warned Hyderabad cyber crime police. After busting a major film piracy syndicate recently, the police have connected the dots that linked the movie piracy to the increasing cyber crime.
Police said the piracy has evolved far beyond pirated CDs or websites and has now entered platforms like Instagram and Telegram, where entire movies are being promoted, streamed and circulated. Talking to Deccan Chronicle, a member of the anti-piracy cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) explained, “Influencers are using Instagram reels to suggest movies and share links to Telegram channels. From there, full-length films are available for streaming or download, which amounts to a copyright violation and such viewing is illegal.”
He warned that viewers accessing movies through portals such as torrents or ibomma risk exposing their personal data to cybercriminals. “When users click on pop-up ads or try to close them, that action may secretly give away sensitive information from their phones. If banking or financial apps are open, there is a serious risk of data compromise,” he added.
Officials said that piracy not only inflicts heavy financial losses on filmmakers but also endangers viewers’ digital security. Syndicates profit by duplicating and distributing content illegally, while malware embedded in such portals often steals users’ personal data. This arrangement is creating a perfect ecosystem for cyber crime.
The recent piracy bust revealed that the piracy networks are operating with advanced technologies. Movies were recorded inside theatres using high-end devices such as the iPhone 14. The accused, identified as Ashwani Kumar from Bihar, maintained a house fitted with CCTV cameras and equipped with multiple servers and systems used for uploading pirated films.
Investigators estimated that the Indian film industry suffered losses amounting to `22,400 crore due to pirated movies circulated across various online platforms.
