Covid Awareness

Psychology behind cybercrime culprits in lockdown

“The Nazis destroyed the independence of the press by passing a series of draconian laws and it seems we are exactly imitating the same with the freedom of the internet bypassing Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill.”

The novel coronavirus has indicated no signs of going slow on its world tour, forcing nations to close borders and economies to suffer a backlash. Meanwhile, another seemingly invisible and overlooked menace is fast mushrooming into a global crisis. According to cyber security experts, hacking activities and cybercrimes are rising at an alarming rate as miscreants take advantage of the globe’s newfound dependence on the virtual world. From WHO to Cognizant to MSMEs and individuals, nobody is safe, as the cybercriminals are not sparing anyone. Cyber-attacks have become as commonplace as the Internet itself. Each year, industry reports, media outlets, and academic articles highlight this increased prevalence, spanning both the amount and variety of attacks and cybercrimes.

Recently on 9 May in Bengaluru, Cybercriminals targeted the bank account of a Bengaluru hospital and siphoned off Rs 17 lakh after cloning the official sim card attached to it and adding unknown members as online banking beneficiaries. This is just not the only case, every day there are hundreds of cases of cybercrime, which is increasing day by day.

Success at social engineering is a skill that is honed over time. Those attackers learn what works and what does not. Criminals will see what works and add their own take on approaches to improve it. So, hacks get better, more effective, and more sophisticated over time.

People think of cybercriminals as kids in their bedrooms just trying it out, but these people are doing this as a business, so it is no surprise that they research what works and what does not. We are on the cusp of a lot of things. The internet and other technological issues are infiltrating popular culture.

The problem is that technology is often far in advance of the conversations society should be having. Technology comes first the psychological reaction comes second. We do not have enough time to research the effects, or potential effects, of new technology. It is always created and made available unchecked, and we have to respond afterward.

There are debates around artificial intelligence and how that will influence human interactions. We should have the debates before we make the products available.”

How can we outsmart the perpetrators of cybercrime?

“It’s all about general awareness – a holistic approach to cyber security. Most individuals tend to compartmentalize it: ‘I have cyber security at work and then I have cyber security at home – I’m covered’. However, this is a misnomer: individuals can introduce their own risk into the workplace and vice versa. We need to treat cyber security as holistic to the individual: is every piece of hardware and software they use, and every action they take everywhere, secure. Because every action can influence multiple places.

Here is what you can do to stay safe:

• Change default passwords of your home Wi-Fi router to prevent hackers from accessing your network.
• Use strong and unique passwords on every account and device and use two-factor authentication (2FA).
• Do not allow anyone else to share your work computers and other devices that you have brought from your office.
• Use only software that is used by your company to share files and refrain from using your personal email or third party services.
• Ensure that your remote sessions automatically time out after a specified period of inactivity and that they require re-authentication to gain access.
• Do not forget to turn off the ‘remember password’ option when you are logging into company information systems and applications from their personal devices.