Advocate (Dr.) Prashant Mali's Blog

What was so different in 2015? Wasn’t it just more of the same? Well, not quite. As the year has ended, lets look back at some unprecedented cases that redefined risk and loss resulting from cyber attacks and international cooperation amongst International Law and Enforcement agencies. There is a common denominator that groups them as one: The mob has fully moved into the Web.  I feel there is no such thing as ‘disorganized cybercrime' hence 'Organised and concerted International action against cyber crime is the need of the hour" Examples of LEA Cyber Crime operations in 2015: An international operation involving law enforcement organisations, government cyber security teams and private organisations has targeted the Dorkbot botnet. Europol, Interpol, the US department of homeland security, the US National Cyber Investigative Joint Taskforce and the FBI partnered with Microsoft and other private sector organisations to disrupt the  Dorkbot  infrastructure, ...

If a hacker were to bring in a malware-harboring car for service, the vehicle could spread that infection to a dealership’s testing equipment, which in turn would spread the malware to every vehicle the dealership services, kicking off an epidemic of nasty code capable of attacking critical driving systems like transmission and brakes. Once you compromise a dealership, you’d have a lot of control,” “You could create a malicious car…The worst case would be a virus-like system where a car pulls in, infects the dealership, and the dealership then spreads that infection to all the other cars.” That “auto brothel” attack is hypothetical, but it’s not as farfetched as it might seem. In 2010 and 2011, researchers at the University of California at San Diego and the University of Washington revealed a slew of hackable vulnerabilities in a 2009 Chevy Impala that allowed them to perform tricks like disabling its brakes, although they didn’t name the make or model of the vehicle at the time. One ...

In 2015, there were 1,966,324 registered notifications about attempted malware infections that aimed to steal money via online access to bank accounts.Ransomware programs were detected on753,684 computers of unique users; 179,209 computers were targeted by encryption ransomware.Kaspersky Lab’s web antivirus detected121,262,075 unique malicious objects: scripts, exploits, executable files, etc.Kaspersky Lab solutions repelled 798,113,087attacks launched from online resources located all over the world.34.2% of user computers were subjected to at least one web attack over the year.To carry out their attacks, cybercriminals used6,563,145 unique hosts.24% of web attacks neutralized by Kaspersky Lab products were carried out using malicious web resources located in the US.Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus solutions detected a total of 4,000,000 unique malicious and potentially unwanted objects.

Woman faces jail for tagging sister-in-law on Facebook:- America, New York-based Maria Gonzalez, who was banned from contacting Maribel Calderon after her divorce from Maribel's brother Rafael Calderon, is charged with second-degree criminal contempt for a Facebook post in which she called her former sister-in-law "stupid." This woman is facing a year in jail for tagging and calling her former sister-in-law "stupid" in a Facebook post after she was prohibited from contacting her ex-husband's family by a court order. New York-based Maria Gonzalez, who was banned from contacting Maribel Calderon after her divorce from Maribel's brother Rafael Calderon, is charged with second-degree criminal contempt for the alleged post. Gonzalez is accused of calling Maribel "stupid" in the post and saying, "You and your family are sad ... You guys have to come stronger than that!! I'm way over you guys but I guess not in ya agenda." Gonzalez tried...

DSC & Electronic Signatures Law in India By Prashant Mali What is a DSC i.e Digital Signature Certificate?  Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) are the digital equivalent (that is electronic format) of physical or paper certificates. Examples of physical certificates are drivers' licenses, passports or membership cards. Certificates serve as proof of identity of an individual for a certain purpose; for example, a driver's license identifies someone who can legally drive in a particular country. Likewise, a digital certificate can be presented electronically to prove your identity, to access information or services on the Internet or to sign certain documents digitally.  Licensed Certifying Authority (CA) issues the digital signature. Certifying Authority (CA) means a person who has been granted a license to issue a digital signature certificate under Section 24 of the Indian IT-Act 2000. The list of licensed CAs along with their contact information is availabl...

What would be the role and responsibilities of Special IG-Cyber,  Mr. Brijesh Singh, IPS  in the State of Maharashtra ? My Views Let me first congratulate the Government of Maharashtra for creating and appointment of IG Cyber Crime and will also applaud for creating and appointing the post of DCP-Cyber Crime in the city of Mumbai. This definitely shows the approach and seriousness towards the menace of cyber crime. With the intention to curb women atrocities and implementation of child prostitution and unethical business restriction Act effectively there was a state level Women Atrocities Prevention Cell and department. This department along with Cyber crime would be headed by, the newly created Special Inspector General of Police (Women Atrocities Prevention & Cyber Crime). Thus the newly formed department would also look after all the work previously looked after by cyber crime cell of CID, Maharashtra state working as a State Nodal Agency. This post was cre...

Types of Cyber Attacks There are several effective methods for disrupting computer systems. We are talking of a method known as cyber attack, or computer network attack , which uses malicious computer code to disrupt computer processing, or steal data.  A brief description of three different methods are shown here. However, as technology changes, future distinctions between these methods may begin to blur. An attack against computers may be targeted or un-targeted (i) disrupt equipment and hardware reliability, (ii) change processing logic, or (iii) steal or corrupt data. The methods discussed here are chosen based on the technology asset against which each attack mode is directed, and the effects each method can produce. The assets affected or effects produced can sometimes overlap for different attack methods.  Conventional kinetic weapons can be directed against computer equipment, a computer facility, or transmission lines to create a physical attack that ...