<p>one of the most powerful leaders in the world today.</p>

<p>The Amazon CEO had hired private investigators to probe the phone hack. So if Jeff Bezos has evidence to prove is the shocking claim, he must put it out.</p>

<p>And this brings us to the question of security, we live in the digital age and government services are moving online. People in Estonia can vote and register companies online. Brazilians can file their taxes online, citizens of Buenos Aires interact with city administrators through Mobile Apps. In India, more than 140 government services are online and it won't be long when every interaction we have with our governments will be through the internet as it saves time and it is cost-effective.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The government will move online too. There is merit to the argument that the day-to-day business of a government can be done online, but the question here is - is it safe? Even major technology companies would hesitate a little before they reply with a yes because technology is not fool-proof.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the last 10 years, we have witnessed the many ways by which technology can disrupt lives - disinformation campaigns, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and several data breaches.</p>

<p>Cyberattack is now a legitimate weapon to target government institutions. Last year, different local governments in America were attacked by ransomware. Ransomware is malicious software that locks an entire computer and then the attacker demands a ransom from the victim to restore access.</p>

<p>In 2019, government officials in the city of Baltimore, a group of cities in Florida, and several local agencies in Texas found themselves locked out of their computers. Officials in Florida paid more than one million dollars in ransom. Others had to shell out much more to rebuild their infrastructure.</p>

<p>India is not immune to cyberattacks, between January and October last year, 48 government websites were hacked. The most alarming attack was on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant.</p>

<p>The time has come to take cybersecurity seriously, indigenous solutions are the need of the hour. For instance, the Israeli defence forces have built their own smartphone to securely communicate on the battleground.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>WATCH: India Needs Indigenous Tools for Cybersecurity</strong></p>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The internet is here to stay, but the growing breaches show that the silicon valley alone cannot be trusted to secure data. As a growing tech power - &nbsp;India must promote indigenous expertise in cybersecurity.</p>

<p>And leaders with access to sensitive information will need safeguards. Former US President Barack Obama was perhaps one of the most tech-savvy American Presidents. For the longest time, he was allowed to only carry a Blackberry which was developed by the American national security agency.</p>

<p>They stripped the phone of practically every built-in feature. It had no games, no selfie camera, texting was not allowed.<br />
The phone could only call 10 phone numbers - the calls were routed through a special network.</p>

<p>Most world leaders have similar arrangements - a stripped-down, but a secure smartphone with a secure line.&nbsp;</p>

<p>India lacks a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, but plans are in place to fill the gaps. According to a report, India is planning an umbrella body - a unified command that will advice and support public and private sectors against cyber threats.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world)</em></p>


one of the most powerful leaders in the world today. The Amazon CEO had hired private investigators to probe the phone hack. So if Jeff Bezos has evidence to prove is the shocking claim, he must put it out.

one of the most powerful leaders in the world today. The Amazon CEO had hired private investigators to probe the phone hack. So if Jeff Bezos has evidence to prove is the shocking claim, he must put it out. And this brings us to the question of security, we live in the digital age and government services are moving online. People in Estonia can vote and register companies online. Brazilians can file their taxes online, citizens of Buenos Aires interact with city administrators through Mobile Apps. In India, more than 140 government services are online and it won't be long when every interaction we have with our governments will be through the internet as it saves time and it is cost-effective. The government will move online too. There is merit to the argument that the day-to-day business of a government can be done online, but the question here is - is it safe? Even major technology companies would hesitate a little before they reply with a yes because technology is not fool-proof. In the last 10 years, we have witnessed the many ways by which technology can disrupt lives - disinformation campaigns, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and several data breaches. Cyberattack is now a legitimate weapon to target government institutions. Last year, different local governments in America were attacked by ransomware. Ransomware is malicious software that locks an entire computer and then the attacker demands a ransom from the victim to restore access. In 2019, government officials in the city of Baltimore, a group of cities in Florida, and several local agencies in Texas found themselves locked out of their computers. Officials in Florida paid more than one million dollars in ransom. Others had to shell out much more to rebuild their infrastructure. India is not immune to cyberattacks, between January and October last year, 48 government websites were hacked. The most alarming attack was on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The time has come to take cybersecurity seriously, indigenous solutions are the need of the hour. For instance, the Israeli defence forces have built their own smartphone to securely communicate on the battleground. WATCH: India Needs Indigenous Tools for Cybersecurity × The internet is here to stay, but the growing breaches show that the silicon valley alone cannot be trusted to secure data. As a growing tech power - India must promote indigenous expertise in cybersecurity. And leaders with access to sensitive information will need safeguards. Former US President Barack Obama was perhaps one of the most tech-savvy American Presidents. For the longest time, he was allowed to only carry a Blackberry which was developed by the American national security agency. They stripped the phone of practically every built-in feature. It had no games, no selfie camera, texting was not allowed. The phone could only call 10 phone numbers - the calls were routed through a special network. Most world leaders have similar arrangements - a stripped-down, but a secure smartphone with a secure line. India lacks a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, but plans are in place to fill the gaps. According to a report, India is planning an umbrella body - a unified command that will advice and support public and private sectors against cyber threats. (Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world)

Wion Edit: Cybersecurity - are governments around the world safe?

As per a survey, 56% Indians were victim of online scams by clicking on malicious links. Cybersecurity firm warns Indians from becoming a victim of online shopping discounts during the holiday season. Watch to know more

Increasing number of Indians falling prey to online scams

<p>Cybersecurity. A term almost all have heard about but can’t exactly grasp the holistic meaning of. Cybersecurity refers to the technologies and processes made to protect networks and devices from attack, damage and/or unauthorised access. A simple analogy; no cybersecurity is like having all of your valuables in a house that has no doors or windows. Why is cybersecurity of utmost importance to India? According to a 2019 report, India was ranked among one of the most cyber-attacked countries in the world. Approximately 15 per cent of India’s economy is the digital economy and that percentage is on the rise. The nation is also home to over 100 data clouds and centres. Consequently, India’s cybersecurity policy needs an upgrade and resilience to cyberthreat needs to be implemented at the earliest.&nbsp;</p>

<p>With the average Indian consuming up to 20 gigabits of data annually, exponential increase in smartphone usage and the upcoming introduction of 5G, individual data protection becomes an essential part of every citizen’s fundamental right. Furthermore, Indian firms, especially startups, are incorporating more of machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analytics and cloud computing in their everyday functions. As the recent WhatsApp hack on prominent journalists and the cyber attack on the Kudankulam nuclear plant illustrates, all sectors face persistent and serious threats to India’s security. Incidents can include data leaks, malware, terrorist-driven activity, the spread of extremism, illicit trafficking and radicalisation. Action needs to be taken. This can be done in several ways.&nbsp;</p>

<p>First, a governmental governing body needs to make a comprehensive assessment needs of India’s current cybersecurity across sectors from the individual level to an MNC level. The good news is that India already has existing cybersecurity projects like the National Cyber Coordination Centre and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre. Such agencies can be strengthened and should take the lead on conducting and completing this assessment. It is only upon the completion of the assessment, effective policy can be crafted that solves for loopholes and threats currently faced.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Second, India should create a cybersecurity strategy with the vision of cyber-resilience for the public sector, the private sector, the government and the individual. Rather than just outlining strategy, this document should include approaches to managing threats and directions for safeguarding against cyber attacks. It is crucial that this strategy educates on types of cyber threats/attacks and includes action steps to prevent and solve cyberattacks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Another important thing to look at is global regulation. External affairs minister S Jaishankar regularly speaks on the importance of cybersecurity for India. At a recent conference in Paris, Jaishankar stressed that multilateralism is needed to come to a global understanding and regulation of cyberspace. Think about it. Cyberspace and digital technology today drives growth in every way; economically, socially and politically. Moreover, though cyber and digital function through national boundaries, they are borderless by design. And in India, digital and cyber technology drives large-scale development programs (ie. Digital India). Such programs are key to effective governance, the economy and Indian innovation. Therefore, India needs to lead in the forefront of the international effort to coordinate the prevention from digital terrorism.&nbsp;</p>

<p>India needs to go into active mission mode on cybersecurity. Otherwise, it’s not just the data privacy of the individual citizen or a business firm that will be compromised. Weak resilience against cybersecurity will significantly impede economic, and infrastructural growth. For example, positive schemes that have shown massive success like Aadhar (unique biometric ID), Jan Dhan bank accounts and internet connectivity will be stunted without resilience to cyberthreats. The impact? Stunted national development. The recent attack on our nuclear plant proves that strong resilience is also needed to protect national interests. Cyberwar is well on its way to becoming a real thing in the international arena with many actors throwing their weight. If India does not become proactive now, consider our influence in the global arena gone for good.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;</em></p>


Cybersecurity. A term almost all have heard about but can’t exactly grasp the holistic meaning of. Cybersecurity refers to the technologies and processes made to protect networks and devices from attack, damage and/or unauthorised access.

Cybersecurity. A term almost all have heard about but can’t exactly grasp the holistic meaning of. Cybersecurity refers to the technologies and processes made to protect networks and devices from attack, damage and/or unauthorised access. A simple analogy; no cybersecurity is like having all of your valuables in a house that has no doors or windows. Why is cybersecurity of utmost importance to India? According to a 2019 report, India was ranked among one of the most cyber-attacked countries in the world. Approximately 15 per cent of India’s economy is the digital economy and that percentage is on the rise. The nation is also home to over 100 data clouds and centres. Consequently, India’s cybersecurity policy needs an upgrade and resilience to cyberthreat needs to be implemented at the earliest. With the average Indian consuming up to 20 gigabits of data annually, exponential increase in smartphone usage and the upcoming introduction of 5G, individual data protection becomes an essential part of every citizen’s fundamental right. Furthermore, Indian firms, especially startups, are incorporating more of machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analytics and cloud computing in their everyday functions. As the recent WhatsApp hack on prominent journalists and the cyber attack on the Kudankulam nuclear plant illustrates, all sectors face persistent and serious threats to India’s security. Incidents can include data leaks, malware, terrorist-driven activity, the spread of extremism, illicit trafficking and radicalisation. Action needs to be taken. This can be done in several ways. First, a governmental governing body needs to make a comprehensive assessment needs of India’s current cybersecurity across sectors from the individual level to an MNC level. The good news is that India already has existing cybersecurity projects like the National Cyber Coordination Centre and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre. Such agencies can be strengthened and should take the lead on conducting and completing this assessment. It is only upon the completion of the assessment, effective policy can be crafted that solves for loopholes and threats currently faced. Second, India should create a cybersecurity strategy with the vision of cyber-resilience for the public sector, the private sector, the government and the individual. Rather than just outlining strategy, this document should include approaches to managing threats and directions for safeguarding against cyber attacks. It is crucial that this strategy educates on types of cyber threats/attacks and includes action steps to prevent and solve cyberattacks. Another important thing to look at is global regulation. External affairs minister S Jaishankar regularly speaks on the importance of cybersecurity for India. At a recent conference in Paris, Jaishankar stressed that multilateralism is needed to come to a global understanding and regulation of cyberspace. Think about it. Cyberspace and digital technology today drives growth in every way; economically, socially and politically. Moreover, though cyber and digital function through national boundaries, they are borderless by design. And in India, digital and cyber technology drives large-scale development programs (ie. Digital India). Such programs are key to effective governance, the economy and Indian innovation. Therefore, India needs to lead in the forefront of the international effort to coordinate the prevention from digital terrorism. India needs to go into active mission mode on cybersecurity. Otherwise, it’s not just the data privacy of the individual citizen or a business firm that will be compromised. Weak resilience against cybersecurity will significantly impede economic, and infrastructural growth. For example, positive schemes that have shown massive success like Aadhar (unique biometric ID), Jan Dhan bank accounts and internet connectivity will be stunted without resilience to cyberthreats. The impact? Stunted national development. The recent attack on our nuclear plant proves that strong resilience is also needed to protect national interests. Cyberwar is well on its way to becoming a real thing in the international arena with many actors throwing their weight. If India does not become proactive now, consider our influence in the global arena gone for good. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Cyberwar is a thing. It's about time India prepare itself

<p>Almost 700 Chinese nationals were arrested in Malaysia when authorities raided a building and busted a major online investment scam operation, immigration officials said Thursday.</p>

<p>With a fairly open visa regime and relatively developed telecommunications infrastructure, Malaysia has become a hotspot for foreigners looking to set up centres to run online scams.</p>

<p>Some suspects attacked security officials while others fled as a huge team from the immigration department launched a dramatic early morning raid on the six-storey premises south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.</p>

<p>Photos from Wednesday's raid showed people standing behind rows of desks mounted with computers, hands held behind their heads, while others sat huddled together on the floor.</p>

<p>Officials seized more than 8,000 phones and almost 1,000 computers&nbsp;used to run the scam, which targeted victims in China by offering fast profits in return for investments.</p>

<p>About 100 suspects managed to escape from the building, and officials are trying to track them down.</p>

<p>Those captured, 603 men and 77 women, had entered Malaysia on a type of visa intended for tourists or visiting friends, but not for work, said immigration chief Khairul Dzaimee Daud.</p>

<p>Acting on a public tip-off, he said officials conducted surveillance on the building for almost a month before the raid.</p>


Almost 700 Chinese nationals were arrested in Malaysia when authorities raided a building and busted a major online investment scam operation, immigration officials said Thursday.

Almost 700 Chinese nationals were arrested in Malaysia when authorities raided a building and busted a major online investment scam operation, immigration officials said Thursday. With a fairly open visa regime and relatively developed telecommunications infrastructure, Malaysia has become a hotspot for foreigners looking to set up centres to run online scams. Some suspects attacked security officials while others fled as a huge team from the immigration department launched a dramatic early morning raid on the six-storey premises south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. Photos from Wednesday's raid showed people standing behind rows of desks mounted with computers, hands held behind their heads, while others sat huddled together on the floor. Officials seized more than 8,000 phones and almost 1,000 computers used to run the scam, which targeted victims in China by offering fast profits in return for investments. About 100 suspects managed to escape from the building, and officials are trying to track them down. Those captured, 603 men and 77 women, had entered Malaysia on a type of visa intended for tourists or visiting friends, but not for work, said immigration chief Khairul Dzaimee Daud. Acting on a public tip-off, he said officials conducted surveillance on the building for almost a month before the raid.

Malaysia arrests almost 700 Chinese over cyber scam

Is India's Critical Digital Infrastructure Under Threat?

Gravitas: ISRO targeted by cyber security breach?

WION: 1st Indian channel reports from NSO headquarters. Watch video to know more.

Exclusive: WION's Daniele reports from NSO headquarters on Whatsapp snoopgate

Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Thursday said Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Are there any alternatives to Whatsapp?

<p>Huawei on Thursday responded to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-declares-national-emergency-bars-huawei-from-us-telecommunications-networks-219053">United States'&nbsp;ban on the&nbsp;Chinese multinational telecommunications </a>equipment saying it was "unreasonable restriction" by the US.</p>

<p>The Chinese firm also hit out at the US claiming that the restriction would not&nbsp;make it more secure or stronger; instead, will only serve to limit the US to inferior and&nbsp;expensive alternatives</p>

<p>"Restricting Huawei from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives. In addition, unreasonable restrictions will infringe upon Huawei's rights and raise other serious legal issues," the telecom giant said in a statement.</p>

<p>President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order declaring a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-declares-us-mexico-border-emergency-democrats-protest-197678">national emergency</a>&nbsp;and barring US&nbsp;companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk.</p>

<p>The order paved&nbsp;the way for a ban on doing business with China's Huawei Technologies Co.</p>

<p>The executive order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States. The order directs the Commerce Department, working with other government agencies, to draw up a plan for enforcement within 150 days.</p>

<p>The order, which has been under review for more than a year, is aimed at protecting the supply chain from "foreign adversaries to the nation`s information and communications technology and services supply chain," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.</p>

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<p>US officials have previously labelled Huawei a "threat" and actively lobbied allies to not using Huawei network equipment in next generation 5G networks.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


Huawei on Thursday responded to United States' ban on the Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment saying it was "unreasonable restriction" by the US. The Chinese firm also hit out at the US claiming that the restriction would not make it more secure or stronger; instead, will only serve to limit the US to inferior and expensive alternatives "Restricting Huawei from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives.

Huawei on Thursday responded to United States' ban on the Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment saying it was "unreasonable restriction" by the US. The Chinese firm also hit out at the US claiming that the restriction would not make it more secure or stronger; instead, will only serve to limit the US to inferior and expensive alternatives "Restricting Huawei from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives. In addition, unreasonable restrictions will infringe upon Huawei's rights and raise other serious legal issues," the telecom giant said in a statement. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and barring US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk. The order paved the way for a ban on doing business with China's Huawei Technologies Co. The executive order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States. The order directs the Commerce Department, working with other government agencies, to draw up a plan for enforcement within 150 days. The order, which has been under review for more than a year, is aimed at protecting the supply chain from "foreign adversaries to the nation`s information and communications technology and services supply chain," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. × US officials have previously labelled Huawei a "threat" and actively lobbied allies to not using Huawei network equipment in next generation 5G networks. (With inputs from agencies)

Unreasonable restrictions infringe on its rights: Huawei responds to US ban

Facebook chose one of the busiest news days in American politics this year to admit that millions more Instagram users were affected by a security lapse than it had previously disclosed.

Facebook security lapse affects millions more Instagram users than first stated

<p>Chinese telecom giant Huawei will give foreign media a peek into its headquarters Wednesday as the normally secretive company steps up a counter-offensive against US warnings that it could be used by Beijing for espionage and sabotage.</p>

<p>Huawei has kicked off the year with an aggressive PR campaign that has seen reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei suddenly give a series of interviews with foreign media to deny the company was a threat, while executives have dismissed the US warnings as baseless.</p>

<p>The charm offensive reaches another gear Wednesday when Huawei rolls out the media welcome mat at its headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen.</p>

<p>Foreign journalist visits are hardly routine at a headquarters where high-tech labs and manufacturing facilities employ 60,000 people, but these are unusual times for the company.</p>

<p>The United States says Huawei equipment could be manipulated by China's Communist government to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications.</p>

<p>Washington is urging governments to shun the company just as the world readies for the advent of ultra-fast 5G telecommunications, an advancement that Huawei was expected to lead and which will allow widespread adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence.</p>

<p>Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren's daughter, also faces a court hearing on Wednesday in Vancouver on a US extradition request. Two Canadians have been detained in China in suspected retaliation over her arrest.</p>

<p>The US Justice Department accuses Huawei and Meng of circumventing US sanctions against Iran. Two affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications group T-Mobile.</p>

<p><strong>Wolf ethos&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>Founded by Ren in 1987, Huawei has espoused a relentless "wolf" ethos that executives say fuelled its rise to become the world leader in telecom network hardware.</p>

<p>It remains to be seen how the new charm offensive will play out, but the wolf may already smell blood.</p>

<p>After intense recent lobbying by Huawei, reports have suggested Britain and New Zealand may walk back earlier indications that the company would be frozen out of their telecom plans.</p>

<p>At the world's top mobile industry fair in Spain last week, Huawei bagged 5G commercial contracts or partnership agreements with 10 telecom operators including Switzerland's Sunrise, Iceland's Nova, Saudi Arabia's STC and Turkey's Turkcell.</p>

<p>On Thursday, Huawei Chairman Guo Ping will hold a news conference at the Shenzhen headquarters that may be the real reason for the media tour's timing.</p>

<p>The New York Times on Monday cited anonymous sources saying Huawei this week will announce plans to sue the US government for barring American federal agencies from using the company's products.</p>

<p>The topic of the news conference has not been disclosed, but a big announcement would allow Huawei to seize back the narrative from Meng's extradition hearing.</p>

<p>Huawei declined to comment publicly on the Times report.</p>

<p>Opening its sprawling grounds also is a chance for Huawei to show that it is a global player not to be trifled with.</p>

<p>Around 60,000 employees work at Shenzhen HQ, which has cutting-edge laboratories, hotels, swimming pools and fitness centres, a dozen cafeterias, and a Huawei University where it trains staff as well as foreign customers and partners.</p>

<p>Huawei strenuously denies any connections to China's government.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sceptics, however, say it is highly unlikely that Ren, a former Chinese army engineer, could have steered his company to such heights in such a strategic sector without the support of Beijing, which has clearly stated its goal of becoming the world's high-tech leader.</p>

<p>Besides its network dominance, Huawei is the world's number three smartphone supplier after Samsung and Apple.</p>


Chinese telecom giant Huawei will give foreign media a peek into its headquarters Wednesday as the normally secretive company steps up a counter-offensive against US warnings that it could be used by Beijing for espionage and sabotage.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei will give foreign media a peek into its headquarters Wednesday as the normally secretive company steps up a counter-offensive against US warnings that it could be used by Beijing for espionage and sabotage. Huawei has kicked off the year with an aggressive PR campaign that has seen reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei suddenly give a series of interviews with foreign media to deny the company was a threat, while executives have dismissed the US warnings as baseless. The charm offensive reaches another gear Wednesday when Huawei rolls out the media welcome mat at its headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen. Foreign journalist visits are hardly routine at a headquarters where high-tech labs and manufacturing facilities employ 60,000 people, but these are unusual times for the company. The United States says Huawei equipment could be manipulated by China's Communist government to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications. Washington is urging governments to shun the company just as the world readies for the advent of ultra-fast 5G telecommunications, an advancement that Huawei was expected to lead and which will allow widespread adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence. Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren's daughter, also faces a court hearing on Wednesday in Vancouver on a US extradition request. Two Canadians have been detained in China in suspected retaliation over her arrest. The US Justice Department accuses Huawei and Meng of circumventing US sanctions against Iran. Two affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications group T-Mobile. Wolf ethos Founded by Ren in 1987, Huawei has espoused a relentless "wolf" ethos that executives say fuelled its rise to become the world leader in telecom network hardware. It remains to be seen how the new charm offensive will play out, but the wolf may already smell blood. After intense recent lobbying by Huawei, reports have suggested Britain and New Zealand may walk back earlier indications that the company would be frozen out of their telecom plans. At the world's top mobile industry fair in Spain last week, Huawei bagged 5G commercial contracts or partnership agreements with 10 telecom operators including Switzerland's Sunrise, Iceland's Nova, Saudi Arabia's STC and Turkey's Turkcell. On Thursday, Huawei Chairman Guo Ping will hold a news conference at the Shenzhen headquarters that may be the real reason for the media tour's timing. The New York Times on Monday cited anonymous sources saying Huawei this week will announce plans to sue the US government for barring American federal agencies from using the company's products. The topic of the news conference has not been disclosed, but a big announcement would allow Huawei to seize back the narrative from Meng's extradition hearing. Huawei declined to comment publicly on the Times report. Opening its sprawling grounds also is a chance for Huawei to show that it is a global player not to be trifled with. Around 60,000 employees work at Shenzhen HQ, which has cutting-edge laboratories, hotels, swimming pools and fitness centres, a dozen cafeterias, and a Huawei University where it trains staff as well as foreign customers and partners. Huawei strenuously denies any connections to China's government. Sceptics, however, say it is highly unlikely that Ren, a former Chinese army engineer, could have steered his company to such heights in such a strategic sector without the support of Beijing, which has clearly stated its goal of becoming the world's high-tech leader. Besides its network dominance, Huawei is the world's number three smartphone supplier after Samsung and Apple.

In rare move, Huawei opens its door for foreign media to counter espionage accusations

<p>China's global dominance in telecommunications networks could pose security threats for decades, Britain's cybersecurity chief warned in a speech in Singapore on Monday.</p>

<p>As countries move to roll out ultra-fast fifth-generation -- 5G -- mobile networks, concerns are mounting that Beijing could use hardware provided by Chinese firms to spy on Western governments.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"The strategic challenge of China's place in the era of globalised technology is much bigger than just one telecommunications equipment company... it's a first-order strategic challenge for us all," the head of Britain's GCHQ cybersecurity agency Jeremy Fleming said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"It's a hugely complex strategic challenge which will span the next few decades... How we deal with it will be crucial for prosperity and security way beyond 5G contracts."&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the last year, the United States has stepped up pressure on its allies to block<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/huawei-breaks-price-ceiling-with-2600-folding-5g-smartphone-199404"> Chinese telecoms giant Huawei</a> from building their 5G networks, citing security concerns.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While the company's presence has been severely restricted in the US, Australia and New Zealand, Britain has launched a security review, which is due to decide whether Huawei technology will be used in the UK's 5G network. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Huawei executives in December met senior officials from Britain's National Cyber Security Centre where they agreed to a range of technical requirements to meet British security standards, which Fleming said is likely the world's "toughest oversight regime" for the firm.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"We need a diversified market that is competing on quality and security, as well as price," Fleming said, adding that the potential risks of allowing Chinese firms into markets need to be fully understood.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Speaking in Singapore to government and military leaders from across Southeast Asia, Fleming said that half of Britain's 1,100 cyber attacks in the past two had a state actor behind it, naming groups from China and Russia.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Our future security will be guaranteed not by the quality of our coding, the design of our silicon, or the cunning of our cyber operators, but by the bonds that tie us together and the relationships that give us the confidence to act decisively against common threats," he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Last year, Australia banned Huawei equipment from its future 5G network while New Zealand has blocked its largest telecoms carrier from using Huawei technology in its rollout.</p>

<p>Both are members of the Five Eyes intelligence network, which also includes Britain, Canada and the US. &nbsp;</p>

<p>US prosecutors are also charging the firm with stealing trade secrets, saying it offered rewards to employees for stealing technology from other rivals.</p>

<p>Huawei is the world's second-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung and the leading supplier of the backbone equipment for wireless mobile networks worldwide which many countries are using to roll out 5G networks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These will bring near-instantaneous connectivity, vast data capacity and futuristic technologies such as self-driving cars.</p>

<p>Chairman Guo Ping said Sunday that 5G security standards should be decided by technical experts, not politicians, and that Huawei hoped each country would make its decisions based on "national interests (and) not just listen to someone else's order".</p>


China's global dominance in telecommunications networks could pose security threats for decades, Britain's cybersecurity chief warned in a speech in Singapore on Monday.

China's global dominance in telecommunications networks could pose security threats for decades, Britain's cybersecurity chief warned in a speech in Singapore on Monday. As countries move to roll out ultra-fast fifth-generation -- 5G -- mobile networks, concerns are mounting that Beijing could use hardware provided by Chinese firms to spy on Western governments. "The strategic challenge of China's place in the era of globalised technology is much bigger than just one telecommunications equipment company... it's a first-order strategic challenge for us all," the head of Britain's GCHQ cybersecurity agency Jeremy Fleming said. "It's a hugely complex strategic challenge which will span the next few decades... How we deal with it will be crucial for prosperity and security way beyond 5G contracts." In the last year, the United States has stepped up pressure on its allies to block Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from building their 5G networks, citing security concerns. While the company's presence has been severely restricted in the US, Australia and New Zealand, Britain has launched a security review, which is due to decide whether Huawei technology will be used in the UK's 5G network. Huawei executives in December met senior officials from Britain's National Cyber Security Centre where they agreed to a range of technical requirements to meet British security standards, which Fleming said is likely the world's "toughest oversight regime" for the firm. "We need a diversified market that is competing on quality and security, as well as price," Fleming said, adding that the potential risks of allowing Chinese firms into markets need to be fully understood. Speaking in Singapore to government and military leaders from across Southeast Asia, Fleming said that half of Britain's 1,100 cyber attacks in the past two had a state actor behind it, naming groups from China and Russia. "Our future security will be guaranteed not by the quality of our coding, the design of our silicon, or the cunning of our cyber operators, but by the bonds that tie us together and the relationships that give us the confidence to act decisively against common threats," he added. Last year, Australia banned Huawei equipment from its future 5G network while New Zealand has blocked its largest telecoms carrier from using Huawei technology in its rollout. Both are members of the Five Eyes intelligence network, which also includes Britain, Canada and the US. US prosecutors are also charging the firm with stealing trade secrets, saying it offered rewards to employees for stealing technology from other rivals. Huawei is the world's second-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung and the leading supplier of the backbone equipment for wireless mobile networks worldwide which many countries are using to roll out 5G networks. These will bring near-instantaneous connectivity, vast data capacity and futuristic technologies such as self-driving cars. Chairman Guo Ping said Sunday that 5G security standards should be decided by technical experts, not politicians, and that Huawei hoped each country would make its decisions based on "national interests (and) not just listen to someone else's order".

China's telecom dominance a security challenge: UK's cybersecurity chief

<p>President Donald Trump is weighing an executive order that would open federal antitrust and criminal probes into Google, Facebook and other social media firms, US media said Saturday, though the White House promptly distanced itself from the reports.</p>

<p>Last month, Trump stepped up his attacks on big tech companies, warning them to be "careful," and slamming what he called <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-google-throws-up-only-bad-stories-about-him-situation-will-be-addressed-162170?first_load=no">"rigged" internet search </a>results.</p>

<p>The US president had complained that Google searches for "Trump news" brought up mostly negative stories about him.</p>

<p>Google strongly rejected any bias claims.</p>

<p>The White House's draft executive order focuses on alleged "bias" at the companies.</p>

<p>"Executive departments and agencies with authorities that could be used to enhance competition among online platforms (agencies) shall... use those authorities to promote competition and ensure that no online platform exercises market power in a way that harms consumers, including through the exercise of bias," read a draft of the report circulated by US media.</p>

<p>"Not later than 30 days from the date of this order, agencies shall submit to the Director of the National Economic Council an initial list of (1) actions each agency can potentially take to protect competition among online platforms and address online platform bias."</p>

<p>The text also demands that federal agencies investigation any potential "violation of the antitrust laws" by an online platform.</p>

<p>However, The Washington Post cited three White House aides as saying they did not write the draft order and did not know its origins, while a senior official said the document existed but had yet to go through the formal process controlled by the staff secretary.</p>

<p>"Although the White House is concerned about the conduct of online platforms and their impact on society, this document is not the result of an official White House policymaking process," deputy White House spokeswoman Lindsey Waters was quoted as saying.</p>

<p>Google and other internet firms have long faced complaints about search results, which are based on algorithms that can take into account user browsing history, location and other factors.</p>

<p>But technology and media analysts say there is little evidence to suggest Google skews results for political reasons. And if they did, the president would have little recourse under the constitution's free speech protections.</p>


President Donald Trump is weighing an executive order that would open federal antitrust and criminal probes into Google, Facebook and other social media firms, US media said Saturday, though the White House promptly distanced itself from the reports.

President Donald Trump is weighing an executive order that would open federal antitrust and criminal probes into Google, Facebook and other social media firms, US media said Saturday, though the White House promptly distanced itself from the reports. Last month, Trump stepped up his attacks on big tech companies, warning them to be "careful," and slamming what he called "rigged" internet search results. The US president had complained that Google searches for "Trump news" brought up mostly negative stories about him. Google strongly rejected any bias claims. The White House's draft executive order focuses on alleged "bias" at the companies. "Executive departments and agencies with authorities that could be used to enhance competition among online platforms (agencies) shall... use those authorities to promote competition and ensure that no online platform exercises market power in a way that harms consumers, including through the exercise of bias," read a draft of the report circulated by US media. "Not later than 30 days from the date of this order, agencies shall submit to the Director of the National Economic Council an initial list of (1) actions each agency can potentially take to protect competition among online platforms and address online platform bias." The text also demands that federal agencies investigation any potential "violation of the antitrust laws" by an online platform. However, The Washington Post cited three White House aides as saying they did not write the draft order and did not know its origins, while a senior official said the document existed but had yet to go through the formal process controlled by the staff secretary. "Although the White House is concerned about the conduct of online platforms and their impact on society, this document is not the result of an official White House policymaking process," deputy White House spokeswoman Lindsey Waters was quoted as saying. Google and other internet firms have long faced complaints about search results, which are based on algorithms that can take into account user browsing history, location and other factors. But technology and media analysts say there is little evidence to suggest Google skews results for political reasons. And if they did, the president would have little recourse under the constitution's free speech protections.

Trump weighs draft order targeting Google, Facebook: Reports

US unveils new cyber security strategy: Russia and China stealing public information 

<p>The US&nbspDepartment of Homeland Security on Tuesday unveiled a new national strategy for addressing the growing number of cyber security risks as it works to assess them and reduce vulnerabilities.</p>

<p>"The cyber threat landscape is shifting in real-time, and we have reached a historic turning point," DHS chief Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement. "It is clear that our cyber adversaries can now threaten the very fabric of our republic itself."</p>

<p>The announcement comes amid concerns about the security of the 2018 US&nbspmidterm congressional elections and numerous high-profile hacking of US&nbspcompanies.</p>

<p>"The United States faces threats from a growing set of sophisticated malicious actors who seek to exploit cyberspace. Motivations include espionage, political and ideological interests, and financial gain," according to the 35-page report reviewed by Reuters before its public release. "Nation-states continue to present a considerable cyber threat. But non-state actors are emerging with capabilities that match those of sophisticated nation-states."</p>

<p>The report noted that by 2020 more than 20 billion devices are expected to be connected to the internet. "The risks introduced by the growing number and variety of such devices are substantial," it said.</p>

<p>Nielsen said the government "must think beyond the defense of specific assets — and confront systemic risks that affect everyone from tech giants to homeowners."</p>

<p>The report also noted the 2015 intrusion into a federal agency resulted in the compromise of personnel records of over 4 million federal employees and in total impacted nearly 22 million people.</p>

<p>The DHS report said the agency "must better align our existing law enforcement efforts and resources to address new and emerging challenges in cyberspace, to include the growing use of end-to-end encryption, anonymous networks, online marketplaces, and cryptocurrencies."</p>

<p>Nielsen will testify Tuesday at a Senate hearing.</p>

<p>In March, Nielsen said the department was prioritizing election cyber security above all other critical infrastructure it protects, such as the financial, energy and communications systems.</p>

<p>US&nbspintelligence officials have repeatedly warned that Russia will attempt to meddle in the 2018 contests after doing so during the 2016 presidential campaign.</p>

<p>Nielsen said that more than half of US&nbspstates have signed up for the agency’s cyber scanning services, designed to detect potential weaknesses that could be targeted by hackers.</p>

<p>DHS said in 2016 that 21 states had experienced initial probing of their systems from Russian hackers in 2016 and that a small number of networks were compromised, but that there was no evidence any votes were actually altered.</p>


The announcement comes amid concerns about the security of the 2018 US midterm congressional elections

The US&nbspDepartment of Homeland Security on Tuesday unveiled a new national strategy for addressing the growing number of cyber security risks as it works to assess them and reduce vulnerabilities. "The cyber threat landscape is shifting in real-time, and we have reached a historic turning point," DHS chief Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement. "It is clear that our cyber adversaries can now threaten the very fabric of our republic itself." The announcement comes amid concerns about the security of the 2018 US&nbspmidterm congressional elections and numerous high-profile hacking of US&nbspcompanies. "The United States faces threats from a growing set of sophisticated malicious actors who seek to exploit cyberspace. Motivations include espionage, political and ideological interests, and financial gain," according to the 35-page report reviewed by Reuters before its public release. "Nation-states continue to present a considerable cyber threat. But non-state actors are emerging with capabilities that match those of sophisticated nation-states." The report noted that by 2020 more than 20 billion devices are expected to be connected to the internet. "The risks introduced by the growing number and variety of such devices are substantial," it said. Nielsen said the government "must think beyond the defense of specific assets — and confront systemic risks that affect everyone from tech giants to homeowners." The report also noted the 2015 intrusion into a federal agency resulted in the compromise of personnel records of over 4 million federal employees and in total impacted nearly 22 million people. The DHS report said the agency "must better align our existing law enforcement efforts and resources to address new and emerging challenges in cyberspace, to include the growing use of end-to-end encryption, anonymous networks, online marketplaces, and cryptocurrencies." Nielsen will testify Tuesday at a Senate hearing. In March, Nielsen said the department was prioritizing election cyber security above all other critical infrastructure it protects, such as the financial, energy and communications systems. US&nbspintelligence officials have repeatedly warned that Russia will attempt to meddle in the 2018 contests after doing so during the 2016 presidential campaign. Nielsen said that more than half of US&nbspstates have signed up for the agency’s cyber scanning services, designed to detect potential weaknesses that could be targeted by hackers. DHS said in 2016 that 21 states had experienced initial probing of their systems from Russian hackers in 2016 and that a small number of networks were compromised, but that there was no evidence any votes were actually altered.

US Homeland Security unveils new cyber security strategy amid threats

<p>An Ecuadorian bank and Wells Fargo have reached an out-of-court settlement over a 2015 cyber heist, providing a possible precedent for the Bangladesh central bank's planned suit to recover $66 million still lost in one of the world's biggest such cases.</p>

<p>A suit by Ecuador's Banco del Austro against Wells Fargo & Co was quietly settled in February, less than a month before a trial date was set, and the US&nbspdistrict court in Manhattan sealed all discussions, according to court documents. No other major media has reported the settlement.</p>

<p>Wells Fargo did not comment on the settlement, and a representative for Banco del Austro could not be immediately reached. &nbsp</p>

<p>Banco had sought to hold Wells responsible for authorising the fraudulent transfer of $12 million from its account in 2015.&nbsp</p>

<p>Hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems in early 2016 and tricked the Federal Reserve Bank of New York into sending as much as $81 million to accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in the Philippines. The accounts were held in fake names and most of the money disappeared into casinos in Manila.</p>

<p>Some of the funds were recovered but about $66 million remains untraced.</p>

<p>No one has been criminally charged for the heist despite an international investigation and two years of finger-pointing among Bangladesh, Philippines, the Fed and the SWIFT communication network that was used. Bangladesh Bank has threatened to sue Manila-based RCBC, and any legal fallout could set a precedent amid a rash of electronic heists at financial institutions around the world.</p>

<p>"This is a tricky issue. We can`t reveal our strategy. But yes we are reviewing each and every case, including the Ecuador one," Bangladesh Bank`s deputy governor Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan said in a recent interview.</p>

<p>While Bangladesh has not taken any legal action, bankers and lawyers saw the cyber-heist suit by Banco against Wells Fargo as a test for any options available to Bangladesh.&nbsp</p>

<p>They said the settlement could signal that Wells compensated Banco in some way, a possibly encouraging sign for Bangladesh Bank, But it could still struggle to get a hearing in the United States and prove that Manila-based RCBC had a contractual obligation to freeze the stolen funds.&nbsp</p>

<p>"There are an awful lot of reasons for people to settle (and) there are all sorts of laws that may or may not apply," said Peter Jaffe, a senior associate at Washington-based law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.&nbsp</p>

<p>"RCBC was not the one that was hacked. Someone may think that RCBC should have done something different when it saw money coming through its accounts, but that is not really a cybersecurity issue at that point," Jaffe said. "I don`t think you would necessarily look to cybersecurity law (or US&nbspcommercial code) to determine ... obligations and rights."</p>

<p><strong>Obligation unclear</strong></p>

<p>At issue is the New York Uniform Commercial Code, which says a bank that is tricked by thieves must reimburse the customer unless it can prove it used a mutually-agreed protocol for verifying the payment messages. The customer could counter that the security protocol was not "commercially reasonable."&nbsp</p>

<p>In 2016, the judge rejected an attempt by Wells to dismiss Banco`s allegations because the Manhattan court could not rule that use of SWIFT`s security system alone was enough.</p>

<p>Bangladesh has a correspondent-banking contract with the New York Fed, which has repeatedly stressed that each of its foreign clients has agreed that it can rely on SWIFT protocols. The payment messages it received from the hackers in February</p>

<p>2016 were verified by SWIFT and directed the Fed to send much of the funds to RCBC.&nbsp</p>

<p>It is unclear what obligation RCBC has to Bangladesh Bank and whether US&nbsplaw would apply.&nbsp</p>

<p>The Philippine bank said it had received advice from lawyers in the United States that it had "strong and valid" defences against any suit by Bangladesh Bank.</p>

<p>"There is no act attributable to RCBC which caused the loss or the theft from Bangladesh Bank," it said in a statement on Monday. "We reiterate that RCBC was merely a beneficiary bank, meaning, the payment instructions which are alleged to have been the result of &nbsphacking were not executed by it."</p>

<p>In the immediate wake of the heist, Bangladesh`s central bank had threatened to sue the New York Fed and SWIFT, though relations have since warmed and the pair has committed to help recover the funds. The Fed and SWIFT, which has since strengthened its security protocols, declined to comment on implications of the Banco-Wells settlement.&nbsp</p>

<p>Financial firms around the world have reviewed defences after a rash of cyberheists involving SWIFT, the latest targeting Malaysia`s central bank.&nbsp</p>

<p>Bangladesh`s minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed Shahriar Alam, said in a recent interview that the central bank is determined to be reimbursed and that preparations are at a "final stage" for a suit.&nbsp</p>

<p>"It`s obvious that we will be filing a case," likely in the United States, he told Reuters while in New York. "There are frustrations in Bangladesh about it. But together we should have done better by now."</p>


An Ecuadorian bank and Wells Fargo have reached an out-of-court settlement over a 2015 cyber heist, providing a possible precedent for the Bangladesh central bank's planned suit to recover $66 million still lost in one of the world's biggest such cases

An Ecuadorian bank and Wells Fargo have reached an out-of-court settlement over a 2015 cyber heist, providing a possible precedent for the Bangladesh central bank's planned suit to recover $66 million still lost in one of the world's biggest such cases. A suit by Ecuador's Banco del Austro against Wells Fargo & Co was quietly settled in February, less than a month before a trial date was set, and the US&nbspdistrict court in Manhattan sealed all discussions, according to court documents. No other major media has reported the settlement. Wells Fargo did not comment on the settlement, and a representative for Banco del Austro could not be immediately reached. Banco had sought to hold Wells responsible for authorising the fraudulent transfer of $12 million from its account in 2015. Hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems in early 2016 and tricked the Federal Reserve Bank of New York into sending as much as $81 million to accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in the Philippines. The accounts were held in fake names and most of the money disappeared into casinos in Manila. Some of the funds were recovered but about $66 million remains untraced. No one has been criminally charged for the heist despite an international investigation and two years of finger-pointing among Bangladesh, Philippines, the Fed and the SWIFT communication network that was used. Bangladesh Bank has threatened to sue Manila-based RCBC, and any legal fallout could set a precedent amid a rash of electronic heists at financial institutions around the world. "This is a tricky issue. We can`t reveal our strategy. But yes we are reviewing each and every case, including the Ecuador one," Bangladesh Bank`s deputy governor Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan said in a recent interview. While Bangladesh has not taken any legal action, bankers and lawyers saw the cyber-heist suit by Banco against Wells Fargo as a test for any options available to Bangladesh. They said the settlement could signal that Wells compensated Banco in some way, a possibly encouraging sign for Bangladesh Bank, But it could still struggle to get a hearing in the United States and prove that Manila-based RCBC had a contractual obligation to freeze the stolen funds. "There are an awful lot of reasons for people to settle (and) there are all sorts of laws that may or may not apply," said Peter Jaffe, a senior associate at Washington-based law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. "RCBC was not the one that was hacked. Someone may think that RCBC should have done something different when it saw money coming through its accounts, but that is not really a cybersecurity issue at that point," Jaffe said. "I don`t think you would necessarily look to cybersecurity law (or US&nbspcommercial code) to determine ... obligations and rights." Obligation unclear At issue is the New York Uniform Commercial Code, which says a bank that is tricked by thieves must reimburse the customer unless it can prove it used a mutually-agreed protocol for verifying the payment messages. The customer could counter that the security protocol was not "commercially reasonable." In 2016, the judge rejected an attempt by Wells to dismiss Banco`s allegations because the Manhattan court could not rule that use of SWIFT`s security system alone was enough. Bangladesh has a correspondent-banking contract with the New York Fed, which has repeatedly stressed that each of its foreign clients has agreed that it can rely on SWIFT protocols. The payment messages it received from the hackers in February 2016 were verified by SWIFT and directed the Fed to send much of the funds to RCBC. It is unclear what obligation RCBC has to Bangladesh Bank and whether US&nbsplaw would apply. The Philippine bank said it had received advice from lawyers in the United States that it had "strong and valid" defences against any suit by Bangladesh Bank. "There is no act attributable to RCBC which caused the loss or the theft from Bangladesh Bank," it said in a statement on Monday. "We reiterate that RCBC was merely a beneficiary bank, meaning, the payment instructions which are alleged to have been the result of &nbsphacking were not executed by it." In the immediate wake of the heist, Bangladesh`s central bank had threatened to sue the New York Fed and SWIFT, though relations have since warmed and the pair has committed to help recover the funds. The Fed and SWIFT, which has since strengthened its security protocols, declined to comment on implications of the Banco-Wells settlement. Financial firms around the world have reviewed defences after a rash of cyberheists involving SWIFT, the latest targeting Malaysia`s central bank. Bangladesh`s minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed Shahriar Alam, said in a recent interview that the central bank is determined to be reimbursed and that preparations are at a "final stage" for a suit. "It`s obvious that we will be filing a case," likely in the United States, he told Reuters while in New York. "There are frustrations in Bangladesh about it. But together we should have done better by now."

Bangladesh eyes settlement in US cyber heist suit ahead of its own case

<p>Facebook has deployed technology tools like artificial intelligence and thousands of people to work on security as the company's "major focus" this year is to protect the integrity of upcoming elections in several countries, including India, on its platform, its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said.</p>

<p>Terming 2018 a "big year" for elections, Zuckerberg said Facebook was enhancing its security features to prevent trolls from spreading information.</p>

<p>The social media giant has been slammed over a major data breach scandal by Cambridge Analytica, a British firm linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.</p>

<p>"In the US Senate Alabama special election last year, we successfully deployed some new artificial intelligence (AI) tools that removed Macedonian trolls who were trying to spread information during the election. We now have about 15,000 people working on security and content review and we'll have more than 20,000 by the end of this year," Zuckerberg told reporters during a conference call yesterday.</p>

<p>"This is going to be a big year for elections ahead with the US midterms and elections in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary and others. This is going to be a major focus for us," he said.</p>

<p>Several Indian states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are scheduled to go for polls this year and the general elections are due in a little over a year from now.</p>

<p>A day earlier, Zuckerberg said Facebook had taken big steps by taking down Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) pages that were targeting the US.</p>

<p>"Since we became aware of their activity after the 2016 US elections, we've been working to root out the IRA and protect the integrity of elections around the world," he said.</p>

<p>"There have been a number of important elections that we've focused on. A few months after the 2016 elections, there was a French presidential election and leading up to that we deployed some new AI tools that took down more than 30,000 fake accounts," he said.</p>

<p>In German election, the company developed a new playbook for working with the local election commission on share information on threats it received, he said.</p>

<p>"We have more work to do here and we're going to continue working very hard to defend against them. There's the Mexican presidential election, there are big elections in India and Brazil as well as in Pakistan and Hungary and a number of other countries and the US midterms, of course," he said.</p>

<p>Zuckerberg pointed out three different types of activity that required different strategies for fighting.</p>

<p>Economic actors, who are basically spammers the second are governments trying to interfere in elections, and then the third is just polarisation and sometimes lack of truthfulness in what you've described as the media, he said.</p>

<p>"If we just make it so that the economics stop working for them then they'll move on to something else. I mean, these are literally the same type of people who had been sending you Viagra e-mails in the '90s. We can attack it on both sides. On the revenue side, we make it so that they can't run the Facebook ad network," he said.</p>

<p>The second category are the national security type issues, Zuckerberg said, adding that is the Russian election interference.</p>

<p>"In order to solve that, what we need to do is to identify these bad actors...What we need to do is to just track that really carefully in order to just be able to remove it from Facebook entirely," he said.</p>

<p>Zuckerberg alleged that some media organisations that are sanctioned news outlets in Russia when investigated closely over time, clearly come out as organisations completely owned, controlled and operated by the IRA.</p>

<p>"So we take them down and treat that as a security issue," he said.</p>


Facebook has deployed technology tools like artificial intelligence and thousands of people to work on security as the company's 'major focus' this year is to protect the integrity of upcoming elections in several countries

Facebook has deployed technology tools like artificial intelligence and thousands of people to work on security as the company's "major focus" this year is to protect the integrity of upcoming elections in several countries, including India, on its platform, its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said. Terming 2018 a "big year" for elections, Zuckerberg said Facebook was enhancing its security features to prevent trolls from spreading information. The social media giant has been slammed over a major data breach scandal by Cambridge Analytica, a British firm linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. "In the US Senate Alabama special election last year, we successfully deployed some new artificial intelligence (AI) tools that removed Macedonian trolls who were trying to spread information during the election. We now have about 15,000 people working on security and content review and we'll have more than 20,000 by the end of this year," Zuckerberg told reporters during a conference call yesterday. "This is going to be a big year for elections ahead with the US midterms and elections in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary and others. This is going to be a major focus for us," he said. Several Indian states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are scheduled to go for polls this year and the general elections are due in a little over a year from now. A day earlier, Zuckerberg said Facebook had taken big steps by taking down Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) pages that were targeting the US. "Since we became aware of their activity after the 2016 US elections, we've been working to root out the IRA and protect the integrity of elections around the world," he said. "There have been a number of important elections that we've focused on. A few months after the 2016 elections, there was a French presidential election and leading up to that we deployed some new AI tools that took down more than 30,000 fake accounts," he said. In German election, the company developed a new playbook for working with the local election commission on share information on threats it received, he said. "We have more work to do here and we're going to continue working very hard to defend against them. There's the Mexican presidential election, there are big elections in India and Brazil as well as in Pakistan and Hungary and a number of other countries and the US midterms, of course," he said. Zuckerberg pointed out three different types of activity that required different strategies for fighting. Economic actors, who are basically spammers the second are governments trying to interfere in elections, and then the third is just polarisation and sometimes lack of truthfulness in what you've described as the media, he said. "If we just make it so that the economics stop working for them then they'll move on to something else. I mean, these are literally the same type of people who had been sending you Viagra e-mails in the '90s. We can attack it on both sides. On the revenue side, we make it so that they can't run the Facebook ad network," he said. The second category are the national security type issues, Zuckerberg said, adding that is the Russian election interference. "In order to solve that, what we need to do is to identify these bad actors...What we need to do is to just track that really carefully in order to just be able to remove it from Facebook entirely," he said. Zuckerberg alleged that some media organisations that are sanctioned news outlets in Russia when investigated closely over time, clearly come out as organisations completely owned, controlled and operated by the IRA. "So we take them down and treat that as a security issue," he said.

Facebook's major focus polls in India, US, Pakistan: Zuckerberg

<p>Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said cyber crime has become an industry globally and that such offences may occur &quot;very often&quot; due to the availability of resources in wrong hands.</p>

<p>Singh also said penetration of Internet and self-radicalisation have further added to the woes of law enforcement agencies and that continuance of the availability of radicalised materials on the Internet is likely to have a drastic change in society and subsequently to humanity.</p>

<p>Inaugurating a two-day Asia-Pacific regional conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) on &quot;Challenges to Policing in 2020- How is Cyber Space shaping our approach to Cyber crime &amp; Terrorism, how do we perform within it and take advantage of it&quot;, the home minister said cyber security network outages, data compromised by hackers, computer malware and other cyber-related incidents and crimes have affected people&#39;s lives.</p>

<p>&quot;I am afraid, cyber attack would occur very often. Tools already exist to mount cyber attacks and they will be improving over the next decade. We have already witnessed an increase in the number and severity of such attacks,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Singh said cyber crime has become an industry and many cyber crimes-related tools and techniques are being offered as services. Even novice criminal with limited investments of money can afford to have such services at his disposal.</p>

<p>&quot;The increase in digitisation of the financial services with inadequate attention to setting up of a robust process, controls and monitoring mechanisms has given new age fraudsters the opportunity to exploit these gaps leading to new types of financial crimes,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The home minister said the new age technologies such as the internet of things, virtual currencies, advanced malware, artificial intelligence, etc. Are fast spreading its tentacles. The police are now expected to cope with such rapidly changing technologies, as well.</p>

<p>&quot;Across many countries many cyber criminals uses technologies like darknet, proxy servers, The Onion Router (TOR) services to hide their identity. Extensive use of VolP, caller ID spoofing, use of crypto currencies, encrypted channel for communication, use of social media have virtually created syndicates of criminals irrespective of their nationality,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Singh said in the fast-changing technology world, computer-based technologies are being increasingly used in various activities ranging from simple home security system to complex nuclear power plants or space programs.</p>

<p>&quot;The cyber-dependency has become widespread today. This has increased vulnerability to attacks against both civilian and military infrastructures,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The home minister said the governments, defence forces, corporations, financial institutions, utility services, hospitals and other businesses collect, process and store a great deal of sensitive information on systems and transmit data across networks.</p>

<p>&quot;With the growing volume and sophistication of cyber attacks, each one of us is required to protect sensitive information, as well as safeguard national security,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Singh said there are many risks, some more serious than others, like viruses, computer hacking, pilferage of data, stealing of credit card information, etc.</p>

<p>&quot;Unfortunately, there is no 100 per cent guarantee that even with the best precautions some of these things won&#39;t happen to you, but there are steps you can take to minimize the chances,&quot; he said.</p>


"I am afraid, cyber attack would occur very often. Tools already exist to mount cyber attacks and they will be improving over the next decade. We have already witnessed an increase in the number and severity of such attacks," he said

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said cyber crime has become an industry globally and that such offences may occur "very often" due to the availability of resources in wrong hands. Singh also said penetration of Internet and self-radicalisation have further added to the woes of law enforcement agencies and that continuance of the availability of radicalised materials on the Internet is likely to have a drastic change in society and subsequently to humanity. Inaugurating a two-day Asia-Pacific regional conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) on "Challenges to Policing in 2020- How is Cyber Space shaping our approach to Cyber crime & Terrorism, how do we perform within it and take advantage of it", the home minister said cyber security network outages, data compromised by hackers, computer malware and other cyber-related incidents and crimes have affected people's lives. "I am afraid, cyber attack would occur very often. Tools already exist to mount cyber attacks and they will be improving over the next decade. We have already witnessed an increase in the number and severity of such attacks," he said. Singh said cyber crime has become an industry and many cyber crimes-related tools and techniques are being offered as services. Even novice criminal with limited investments of money can afford to have such services at his disposal. "The increase in digitisation of the financial services with inadequate attention to setting up of a robust process, controls and monitoring mechanisms has given new age fraudsters the opportunity to exploit these gaps leading to new types of financial crimes," he said. The home minister said the new age technologies such as the internet of things, virtual currencies, advanced malware, artificial intelligence, etc. Are fast spreading its tentacles. The police are now expected to cope with such rapidly changing technologies, as well. "Across many countries many cyber criminals uses technologies like darknet, proxy servers, The Onion Router (TOR) services to hide their identity. Extensive use of VolP, caller ID spoofing, use of crypto currencies, encrypted channel for communication, use of social media have virtually created syndicates of criminals irrespective of their nationality," he said. Singh said in the fast-changing technology world, computer-based technologies are being increasingly used in various activities ranging from simple home security system to complex nuclear power plants or space programs. "The cyber-dependency has become widespread today. This has increased vulnerability to attacks against both civilian and military infrastructures," he said. The home minister said the governments, defence forces, corporations, financial institutions, utility services, hospitals and other businesses collect, process and store a great deal of sensitive information on systems and transmit data across networks. "With the growing volume and sophistication of cyber attacks, each one of us is required to protect sensitive information, as well as safeguard national security," he said. Singh said there are many risks, some more serious than others, like viruses, computer hacking, pilferage of data, stealing of credit card information, etc. "Unfortunately, there is no 100 per cent guarantee that even with the best precautions some of these things won't happen to you, but there are steps you can take to minimize the chances," he said.

Cybercrime is becoming an industry: Rajnath Singh

<p>Cyber crimes are increasing and devices are becoming more vulnerable than ever before. But there are a few things that you can do all by yourself to stay digitally safe. On Safer Internet Day, we bring you some of those simple tips that can reduce your chances of being hacked.</p>

<p>Tip 1: Be cautious of who you share your phone with</p>

<p>It can take less than a minute for someone to hack into your phone. So, be a little careful when you give your phone to someone - in an emergency or in any other situation. Take it back if you find that someone is unnecessary fiddling with your phone.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 2: Don&rsquo;t click on every link that you receive</p>

<p>We receive a lot of links on the WhatsApp, Facebook, or in emails. But don&rsquo;t click on any link as you spot it. Hold on, and verify the link first. See if the link starts with https.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 3: Never change your password on public wifi networks</p>

<p>Never change your password to online services on open wifi networks. Because this is one trick that hackers use to steal your online details. They come on the same wifi network and create a situation that you would be forced to generate a new password. And as you change your password, they get an access too. Also, we suggest you not to make online transactions on public wifis.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 4: Keep your phone light</p>

<p>Avoid sensitive information on your phone. Keep taking frequent backups of your data and keep removing the same from your phone. So God forbid, if someday a hacker broke into your phone, there would be fewer chances for him to steal your confidential data.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 5: Be wary of attachments in e-mails</p>

<p>Never download an attachment if you are not confident about it. Most of the times, your Gmail auto scans those attachments, but some viruses manage to bypass even those security measures.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 6: Disable mobile data if not in use</p>

<p>If your phone is always connected to the Internet, it increases chances for hackers to get through your phone and install an app remotely. So if your mobile data is not in use, we advise you to disable it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 7: Read app permissions before downloading an app</p>

<p>Some of you may be in the habit of reading app permissions before downloading an app,&nbsp; but a majority of smartphone users actually accept the permissions without giving it a read. We advise you to always read them so that you know what all developers are getting access to on your phone. If you find that you are not comfortable in sharing some details with a third party developer, take a call to not install that particular app. It&rsquo;s better to not use an app than increasing your chances of falling for a cybercrime.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 8: Increase security layers on your phone</p>

<p>Lock code for your phone is fine but that provides you with only one level of security. And, therefore, you are advised to use app locks and protect apps that include sensitive information.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 9: Turn off Bluetooth when not in use</p>

<p>If the Bluetooth on your phone or laptop is not in use, turn it off. Because an always-on Bluetooth increases chances for hackers to break into your devices.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tip 10: Never install an app from unverified sources</p>

<p>If you want to download a new app, visit official app sources and install them from there. Avoid installations from unverified sources.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Security is never foolproof. But these simple tips can definitely help you protect better.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Hackers have found new ways to break into your devices. But if you keep your digital doors locked, it reduces your chances of becoming a cybercrime victim.

Cyber crimes are increasing and devices are becoming more vulnerable than ever before. But there are a few things that you can do all by yourself to stay digitally safe. On Safer Internet Day, we bring you some of those simple tips that can reduce your chances of being hacked. Tip 1: Be cautious of who you share your phone with It can take less than a minute for someone to hack into your phone. So, be a little careful when you give your phone to someone - in an emergency or in any other situation. Take it back if you find that someone is unnecessary fiddling with your phone. Tip 2: Don’t click on every link that you receive We receive a lot of links on the WhatsApp, Facebook, or in emails. But don’t click on any link as you spot it. Hold on, and verify the link first. See if the link starts with https. Tip 3: Never change your password on public wifi networks Never change your password to online services on open wifi networks. Because this is one trick that hackers use to steal your online details. They come on the same wifi network and create a situation that you would be forced to generate a new password. And as you change your password, they get an access too. Also, we suggest you not to make online transactions on public wifis. Tip 4: Keep your phone light Avoid sensitive information on your phone. Keep taking frequent backups of your data and keep removing the same from your phone. So God forbid, if someday a hacker broke into your phone, there would be fewer chances for him to steal your confidential data. Tip 5: Be wary of attachments in e-mails Never download an attachment if you are not confident about it. Most of the times, your Gmail auto scans those attachments, but some viruses manage to bypass even those security measures. Tip 6: Disable mobile data if not in use If your phone is always connected to the Internet, it increases chances for hackers to get through your phone and install an app remotely. So if your mobile data is not in use, we advise you to disable it. Tip 7: Read app permissions before downloading an app Some of you may be in the habit of reading app permissions before downloading an app, but a majority of smartphone users actually accept the permissions without giving it a read. We advise you to always read them so that you know what all developers are getting access to on your phone. If you find that you are not comfortable in sharing some details with a third party developer, take a call to not install that particular app. It’s better to not use an app than increasing your chances of falling for a cybercrime. Tip 8: Increase security layers on your phone Lock code for your phone is fine but that provides you with only one level of security. And, therefore, you are advised to use app locks and protect apps that include sensitive information. Tip 9: Turn off Bluetooth when not in use If the Bluetooth on your phone or laptop is not in use, turn it off. Because an always-on Bluetooth increases chances for hackers to break into your devices. Tip 10: Never install an app from unverified sources If you want to download a new app, visit official app sources and install them from there. Avoid installations from unverified sources. Security is never foolproof. But these simple tips can definitely help you protect better. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: On Safer Internet Day, 10 tips to prevent hacking

<p>Your Excellency Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of the media,&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on his first ever visit to India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(My good friend, Welcome to India!)</p>

<p>Your visit, Prime Minister, is a long-anticipated moment in the journey of friendship between India and Israel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Your visit is also a fitting climax to the comemoration of 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As our first honoured guest in 2018, your visit marks a special beginning to our New Year calendar. It comes at an especially auspicious time as people all over India are rejoicing the arrival of spring, renewal, hope and harvest. The festivals of Lohri, Bihu, MakarSankranti, and Pongal celebrate the splendour of India&rsquo;s diversity and unity.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Friends,&nbsp;</p>

<p>Last year in July, I carried the greetings and friendship of 1.25 billion Indians during my momentous journey to Israel. In return, I was overwhelmed by the generous affection and warmth of the Israeli people, led by my friend, Bibi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In that visit, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I promised each other and our people to build a strategic partnership: of hope and trust and progress of diverse and cutting-edge cooperation, and of joint endeavours and shared successes Such a promise flows as much from the natural affinity and friendship that have linked us for centuries as it does from the compelling win-win case for engagement in almost all spheres .&nbsp;</p>

<p>And it is a measure of our shared ambition and commitment that six short months after that visit; your extraordinary visit is taking place to India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Today and yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I reviewed the progress in our relations and renewed our conversation on the possibilities and the opportunities that beckon us and need to be seized.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Our discussions were wide-ranging and intensive. They were marked by the desire to do more. Prime Minister, I have a reputation of being impatient in getting results.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If I may let out an open secret, I know that so are you.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Last year in Tel Aviv, you had expressed the intent to cut down bureaucratic red tape with a machete and forge ahead with speed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Prime Minister, I am happy to tell you that in India, we are well on our way to doing just that. We have imparted our shared impatience to the implemntation of our earlier decisions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The results are already visible on the ground. Our discussions today were marked by convergence to accelerate our engagement and to scale up our partnership.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We will pursue this in three ways:&nbsp;</p>

<p>First, we will strengthen the existing pillars of cooperation in areas that touch the lives of our peoples. These are agriculture, science and technology, and security.</p>

<p>We exchanged views on scaling up the Centers of Excellence that have been a main-stay of agricultural cooperation by bringing in advanced Israeli practices and technology.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In defence, I have invited Israeli companies to take advantage of the liberalized FDI regime to make more in India with our companies.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Second,&nbsp;</p>

<p>we are venturing into less explored areas of cooperation, such as oil &amp; gas, cyber security, films, and start-ups. You will find this reflected in the agreements that were just exchanged. Several of these areas are indicative of our desire to diversify and broad-base engagement.<br />
And third,&nbsp;</p>

<p>we are committed to facilitating the flow of people and ideas between our geographies. It requires policy facilitation, infrastructure and connectivity links and fostering constituencies of support beyond Government.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We are working with Israel to make it easier for our people to work and visit each other&rsquo;s countries, including for longer work durations To bring people closer on both sides, an Indian Cultural Center will soon open in Israel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We have also decided to start an annual exchange of bilateral visits by 100 young people from science-related educational streams.<br />
Friends,</p>

<p>Thriving two-way trade and investment is an integral part of our vision for a strong partnership. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agreed on the need to do more in this direction. After the meeting in Tel Aviv last year, we will interact for the second time with our CEOs under the bilateral Forum.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I welcome the large business component that Prime Minister Netanyahu has brought along with him. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I also exchanged perspectives on the regional and global situation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We reviewed our cooperation as a factor for stability and peace in our regions and the world.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Friends,</p>

<p>Yesterday, as his first stop after touching Indian soil, Prime Minister Netanyahu joined me at the re-named Teen Murti Haifa Chowk to pay homage to the memory of the brave Indian soldiers who laid down their lives a century ago in the Battle of Haifa in Israel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We are both countries that have never forgotten our history and our heroes. And we deeply appreciate this gesture by Prime Minister Netanyahu.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As we look to the future of this exciting partnership with Israel, I am filled with hope and optimism. In Prime Minister Netanyahu, I have a counter-part who is equally committed to taking the India-Israel relationship to soaring new heights.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Finally, I am delighted to have the chance to be with you, Prime Minister , in my home state, Gujarat, day after.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There, we will have another opportunity to see the fulfillment of the promise, which our mutual cooperation holds in diverse areas such as agriculture, technology, and innovation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I wish Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mrs. Netanyahu and the delegation a memorable stay in India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thank you very much. Toda Rabah!</p>


'Your visit, Prime Minister, is a long-anticipated moment in the journey of friendship between India and Israel,' Modi said

Your Excellency Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of the media, It is a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on his first ever visit to India. (My good friend, Welcome to India!) Your visit, Prime Minister, is a long-anticipated moment in the journey of friendship between India and Israel. Your visit is also a fitting climax to the comemoration of 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. As our first honoured guest in 2018, your visit marks a special beginning to our New Year calendar. It comes at an especially auspicious time as people all over India are rejoicing the arrival of spring, renewal, hope and harvest. The festivals of Lohri, Bihu, MakarSankranti, and Pongal celebrate the splendour of India’s diversity and unity. Friends, Last year in July, I carried the greetings and friendship of 1.25 billion Indians during my momentous journey to Israel. In return, I was overwhelmed by the generous affection and warmth of the Israeli people, led by my friend, Bibi. In that visit, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I promised each other and our people to build a strategic partnership: of hope and trust and progress of diverse and cutting-edge cooperation, and of joint endeavours and shared successes Such a promise flows as much from the natural affinity and friendship that have linked us for centuries as it does from the compelling win-win case for engagement in almost all spheres . And it is a measure of our shared ambition and commitment that six short months after that visit; your extraordinary visit is taking place to India. Today and yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I reviewed the progress in our relations and renewed our conversation on the possibilities and the opportunities that beckon us and need to be seized. Our discussions were wide-ranging and intensive. They were marked by the desire to do more. Prime Minister, I have a reputation of being impatient in getting results. If I may let out an open secret, I know that so are you. Last year in Tel Aviv, you had expressed the intent to cut down bureaucratic red tape with a machete and forge ahead with speed. Prime Minister, I am happy to tell you that in India, we are well on our way to doing just that. We have imparted our shared impatience to the implemntation of our earlier decisions. The results are already visible on the ground. Our discussions today were marked by convergence to accelerate our engagement and to scale up our partnership. We will pursue this in three ways: First, we will strengthen the existing pillars of cooperation in areas that touch the lives of our peoples. These are agriculture, science and technology, and security. We exchanged views on scaling up the Centers of Excellence that have been a main-stay of agricultural cooperation by bringing in advanced Israeli practices and technology. In defence, I have invited Israeli companies to take advantage of the liberalized FDI regime to make more in India with our companies. Second, we are venturing into less explored areas of cooperation, such as oil & gas, cyber security, films, and start-ups. You will find this reflected in the agreements that were just exchanged. Several of these areas are indicative of our desire to diversify and broad-base engagement. And third, we are committed to facilitating the flow of people and ideas between our geographies. It requires policy facilitation, infrastructure and connectivity links and fostering constituencies of support beyond Government. We are working with Israel to make it easier for our people to work and visit each other’s countries, including for longer work durations To bring people closer on both sides, an Indian Cultural Center will soon open in Israel. We have also decided to start an annual exchange of bilateral visits by 100 young people from science-related educational streams. Friends, Thriving two-way trade and investment is an integral part of our vision for a strong partnership. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agreed on the need to do more in this direction. After the meeting in Tel Aviv last year, we will interact for the second time with our CEOs under the bilateral Forum. I welcome the large business component that Prime Minister Netanyahu has brought along with him. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I also exchanged perspectives on the regional and global situation. We reviewed our cooperation as a factor for stability and peace in our regions and the world. Friends, Yesterday, as his first stop after touching Indian soil, Prime Minister Netanyahu joined me at the re-named Teen Murti Haifa Chowk to pay homage to the memory of the brave Indian soldiers who laid down their lives a century ago in the Battle of Haifa in Israel. We are both countries that have never forgotten our history and our heroes. And we deeply appreciate this gesture by Prime Minister Netanyahu. As we look to the future of this exciting partnership with Israel, I am filled with hope and optimism. In Prime Minister Netanyahu, I have a counter-part who is equally committed to taking the India-Israel relationship to soaring new heights. Finally, I am delighted to have the chance to be with you, Prime Minister , in my home state, Gujarat, day after. There, we will have another opportunity to see the fulfillment of the promise, which our mutual cooperation holds in diverse areas such as agriculture, technology, and innovation. I wish Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mrs. Netanyahu and the delegation a memorable stay in India. Thank you very much. Toda Rabah!

Read: Full statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited Israeli defence companies to India for co-production, as he held comprehensive talks on strategic issues with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who called him a &quot;revolutionary leader&quot;.</p>

<p>The two countries also inked nine pacts to boost cooperation in key areas such as cyber security and gas and oil after extensive delegation-level talks between their prime ministers.</p>

<p>During the talks, the issue of India voting against Israel at the UN on the Jerusalem issue also figured with Indian officials maintaining that both sides put forth their views. However, the officials asserted that the two leaders agreed that the ties &quot;are not determined by a single issue&quot;.</p>

<p>India had last month joined 127 other countries to vote in the UN in favour of a resolution opposing the recent decision of the US to recognise Jerusalem as Israel&#39;s capital.</p>

<p>Terming their talks as &quot;wide-ranging and intensive&quot;, Modi, at a joint press event with Netanyahu, said they reviewed the progress in the bilateral relations and agreed that &quot;the possibilities and the opportunities&quot; that beckon the two countries need to be seized.</p>

<p>&quot;We will strengthen the existing pillars of cooperation in areas that touch the lives of our peoples. These are agriculture, science and technology, and security...In defence, I have invited Israeli companies to take advantage of the liberalised FDI regime to make more in India with our companies,&quot; Modi said.</p>

<p>According to a joint statement, the leaders noted the &quot;grave&quot; threat that terrorism poses to peace and security including from non-state actors, and reiterated that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds.</p>

<p>They advocated strong measures against terrorists, terror outfits, those who sponsor, encourage or finance terrorism or provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, the statement said.</p>

<p>At the press event, Netanyahu said, &quot;Indians and Israelis know too well the pain of terrorist attacks. We remember the horrific savagery in Mumbai. We grit our teeth, we fight back, we never give in.&quot;</p>

<p>The two leaders also noted that the next meeting of the Joint Working Groups on Homeland and Public Security will be held in February 2018, the statement said.</p>

<p>They reiterated the importance of building comprehensive cooperation in counter-terrorism, including cyber-space, the statement said.</p>

<p>On whether the multi-million Israeli missile Spike deal figured in the talks, Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations), did not give a direct answer and said defence and security cooperation was discussed. He did not get into specific details.</p>

<p>On defence cooperation, the statement said the two prime ministers consider it important to set the direction for developing more business models and partnerships for joint ventures and joint manufacturing, including transfer of technology as well as joint research and development in defence and security fields.</p>

<p>The two leaders asked their respective defence ministries to hold discussions this year with active involvement of the public and private sectors, in order to create the basis for viable, sustainable and long term cooperation in the defence industry, the statement said.</p>

<p>The bonhomie between the two leaders was on full display with Modi starting his press statement welcoming Netanyahu in Hebrew and the visiting leader describing the Indian prime minister as a &quot;revolutionary leader&quot;.<br />
<br />
&quot;You are a revolutionary leader and you are revolutionising India. You are catapulting this magnificent state into the future. And you have revolutionised the relations between Israel and India,&quot; Netanyahu, popularly known as &#39;Bibi&#39;, said.</p>

<p>Dubbing Netanyahu&#39;s visit as a &quot;long-anticipated moment in the journey of friendship&quot; between India and Israel, Modi said the visit was also a fitting climax to the commemoration of 25 years of bilateral diplomatic relations and marked a special beginning to the new year calendar.</p>

<p>Asserting that their discussions were marked by the desire to do more, Modi said, &quot;Prime Minister, I have a reputation of being impatient in getting results. If I may let out an open secret, I know that so are you.&quot;</p>

<p>Referring to his visit to Israel last year, Modi said they had promised each other and their people to build a strategic partnership as also progress of diverse and cutting-edge cooperation, and of joint endeavours and shared successes.</p>

<p>He said last year in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu had expressed the intent to cut down bureaucratic red tape with a machete and forge ahead with speed.</p>

<p>&quot;I am happy to tell you that in India, we are well on our way to doing just that. We have imparted our shared impatience to the implementation of our earlier decisions,&quot; he said, asserting that the results were already visible on the ground.</p>

<p>The two leaders also exchanged views on scaling up the centres of excellence that have been a mainstay of agricultural cooperation by bringing in advanced Israeli practices and technology.</p>

<p>Modi said the two countries are also venturing into the less explored areas of cooperation, such as oil and gas, cyber security, films, and start-ups.</p>

<p>Asserting that they are committed to facilitating the flow of people and ideas between their geographies, Modi said, &quot;We are working with Israel to make it easier for our people to work and visit each other&#39;s countries, including for longer work durations. To bring people closer on both sides, an Indian Cultural Centre will soon open in Israel.&quot;</p>

<p>He also said that they have decided to start an annual exchange of bilateral visits by 100 young people from science-related educational streams.</p>

<p>Modi said that he was looking forward to accompany Netanyahu to his home state, Gujarat.</p>

<p>&quot;There, we will have another opportunity to see the fulfilment of the promise, which our mutual cooperation holds in diverse areas such as agriculture, technology, and innovation,&quot; he added.&nbsp;</p>


The pacts were inked in key areas like cyber security and gas and oil after extensive delegation-level talks between the two prime ministers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited Israeli defence companies to India for co-production, as he held comprehensive talks on strategic issues with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who called him a "revolutionary leader". The two countries also inked nine pacts to boost cooperation in key areas such as cyber security and gas and oil after extensive delegation-level talks between their prime ministers. During the talks, the issue of India voting against Israel at the UN on the Jerusalem issue also figured with Indian officials maintaining that both sides put forth their views. However, the officials asserted that the two leaders agreed that the ties "are not determined by a single issue". India had last month joined 127 other countries to vote in the UN in favour of a resolution opposing the recent decision of the US to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Terming their talks as "wide-ranging and intensive", Modi, at a joint press event with Netanyahu, said they reviewed the progress in the bilateral relations and agreed that "the possibilities and the opportunities" that beckon the two countries need to be seized. "We will strengthen the existing pillars of cooperation in areas that touch the lives of our peoples. These are agriculture, science and technology, and security...In defence, I have invited Israeli companies to take advantage of the liberalised FDI regime to make more in India with our companies," Modi said. According to a joint statement, the leaders noted the "grave" threat that terrorism poses to peace and security including from non-state actors, and reiterated that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds. They advocated strong measures against terrorists, terror outfits, those who sponsor, encourage or finance terrorism or provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, the statement said. At the press event, Netanyahu said, "Indians and Israelis know too well the pain of terrorist attacks. We remember the horrific savagery in Mumbai. We grit our teeth, we fight back, we never give in." The two leaders also noted that the next meeting of the Joint Working Groups on Homeland and Public Security will be held in February 2018, the statement said. They reiterated the importance of building comprehensive cooperation in counter-terrorism, including cyber-space, the statement said. On whether the multi-million Israeli missile Spike deal figured in the talks, Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations), did not give a direct answer and said defence and security cooperation was discussed. He did not get into specific details. On defence cooperation, the statement said the two prime ministers consider it important to set the direction for developing more business models and partnerships for joint ventures and joint manufacturing, including transfer of technology as well as joint research and development in defence and security fields. The two leaders asked their respective defence ministries to hold discussions this year with active involvement of the public and private sectors, in order to create the basis for viable, sustainable and long term cooperation in the defence industry, the statement said. The bonhomie between the two leaders was on full display with Modi starting his press statement welcoming Netanyahu in Hebrew and the visiting leader describing the Indian prime minister as a "revolutionary leader". "You are a revolutionary leader and you are revolutionising India. You are catapulting this magnificent state into the future. And you have revolutionised the relations between Israel and India," Netanyahu, popularly known as 'Bibi', said. Dubbing Netanyahu's visit as a "long-anticipated moment in the journey of friendship" between India and Israel, Modi said the visit was also a fitting climax to the commemoration of 25 years of bilateral diplomatic relations and marked a special beginning to the new year calendar. Asserting that their discussions were marked by the desire to do more, Modi said, "Prime Minister, I have a reputation of being impatient in getting results. If I may let out an open secret, I know that so are you." Referring to his visit to Israel last year, Modi said they had promised each other and their people to build a strategic partnership as also progress of diverse and cutting-edge cooperation, and of joint endeavours and shared successes. He said last year in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu had expressed the intent to cut down bureaucratic red tape with a machete and forge ahead with speed. "I am happy to tell you that in India, we are well on our way to doing just that. We have imparted our shared impatience to the implementation of our earlier decisions," he said, asserting that the results were already visible on the ground. The two leaders also exchanged views on scaling up the centres of excellence that have been a mainstay of agricultural cooperation by bringing in advanced Israeli practices and technology. Modi said the two countries are also venturing into the less explored areas of cooperation, such as oil and gas, cyber security, films, and start-ups. Asserting that they are committed to facilitating the flow of people and ideas between their geographies, Modi said, "We are working with Israel to make it easier for our people to work and visit each other's countries, including for longer work durations. To bring people closer on both sides, an Indian Cultural Centre will soon open in Israel." He also said that they have decided to start an annual exchange of bilateral visits by 100 young people from science-related educational streams. Modi said that he was looking forward to accompany Netanyahu to his home state, Gujarat. "There, we will have another opportunity to see the fulfilment of the promise, which our mutual cooperation holds in diverse areas such as agriculture, technology, and innovation," he added.

India, Israel ink 9 pacts, Modi invites Israeli defence companies for co-production

<p data-reactid="40">Symantec Corp, a digital security company, says it has identified a sustained cyber spying campaign, likely state-sponsored, against Indian and Pakistani entities involved in regional security issues.</p>

<p data-reactid="41">In a threat intelligence report that was sent to clients in July, Symantec said the online espionage effort dated back to October 2016.</p>

<p data-reactid="42">The campaign appeared to be the work of several groups, but tactics and techniques used suggest that the groups were operating with &quot;similar goals or under the same sponsor&quot;,&nbsp;probably a nation state, according to the threat report, which was reviewed by Reuters. It did not name a state.</p>

<p data-reactid="43">The detailed report on the cyber spying comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region.</p>

<p data-reactid="44">India&#39;s military has raised operational readiness along its border with China following a face-off in Bhutan near their disputed frontier, while Indo-Pakistan tensions are also simmering over the disputed Kashmir region.</p>

<p data-reactid="45">A spokesman for Symantec said the company does not comment publicly on the malware analysis, investigations and incident response services it provides clients.</p>

<p data-reactid="47">Symantec did not identify the likely sponsor of the attack. But it said that governments and militaries with operations in South Asia and interests in regional security issues would likely be at risk from the malware. The malware utilizes the so-called &ldquo;Ehdoor&rdquo; back door to access files on computers.</p>

<p data-reactid="48">&ldquo;There was a similar campaign that targeted Qatar using programs called Spynote and Revokery,&rdquo; said a security expert, who requested anonymity. &ldquo;They were back doors just like Ehdoor, which is a targeted effort for South Asia.&rdquo;</p>

<p data-reactid="48">To install the malware, Symantec found, the attackers used decoy documents related to security issues in South Asia. The documents included reports from Reuters, Zee News, and the Hindu, and were related to military issues, Kashmir, and an Indian secessionist movement.</p>

<p data-reactid="51">The malware allows spies to upload and download files, carry out processes, log keystrokes, identify the target&rsquo;s location, steal personal data, and take screenshots, Symantec said, adding that the malware was also being used to target Android devices.</p>

<p data-reactid="52">In response to frequent cyber-security incidents, India in February established a center to help companies and individuals detect and remove malware. The center is operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).</p>

<p data-reactid="53">Gulshan Rai, the director general of CERT-In, declined to comment specifically on the attack cited in the Symantec report, but added: &ldquo;We took prompt action when we discovered a back door last October after a group in Singapore alerted us.&rdquo; He did not elaborate.</p>

<p data-reactid="54">Symantec&#39;s&nbsp;report said an investigation into the back door showed that it was constantly being modified to provide &quot;additional capabilities&quot;&nbsp;for spying operations.</p>

<p data-reactid="55">A senior official with Pakistan&rsquo;s Federal Investigation Agency said it had not received any reports of malware incidents from government information technology departments. He asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.</p>

<p data-reactid="57">A spokesman for FireEye, another cybersecurity company, said that based on an initial review of the malware, it had concluded that an internet protocol address in Pakistan had submitted the malware to a testing service. The spokesman requested anonymity, citing company policy.</p>

<p data-reactid="58">Another FireEye official said the attack reported by Symantec was not surprising.</p>

<p data-reactid="59">&quot;South Asia is a hotbed of geopolitical tensions, and wherever we find heightened tensions we expect to see elevated levels of cyber espionage activity,&quot; said Tim Wellsmore, FireEye&#39;s director of threat intelligence for the Asia Pacific region.</p>

<p>The Symantec report said the &#39;Ehdoor&#39; back door was initially used in late 2016 to target government, military and military-affiliated targets in the Middle East and elsewhere.</p>


Governments and militaries with operations in South Asia and interests in regional security issues would likely be at risk from the malware, Symantec Corp said

Symantec Corp, a digital security company, says it has identified a sustained cyber spying campaign, likely state-sponsored, against Indian and Pakistani entities involved in regional security issues. In a threat intelligence report that was sent to clients in July, Symantec said the online espionage effort dated back to October 2016. The campaign appeared to be the work of several groups, but tactics and techniques used suggest that the groups were operating with "similar goals or under the same sponsor", probably a nation state, according to the threat report, which was reviewed by Reuters. It did not name a state. The detailed report on the cyber spying comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region. India's military has raised operational readiness along its border with China following a face-off in Bhutan near their disputed frontier, while Indo-Pakistan tensions are also simmering over the disputed Kashmir region. A spokesman for Symantec said the company does not comment publicly on the malware analysis, investigations and incident response services it provides clients. Symantec did not identify the likely sponsor of the attack. But it said that governments and militaries with operations in South Asia and interests in regional security issues would likely be at risk from the malware. The malware utilizes the so-called “Ehdoor” back door to access files on computers. “There was a similar campaign that targeted Qatar using programs called Spynote and Revokery,” said a security expert, who requested anonymity. “They were back doors just like Ehdoor, which is a targeted effort for South Asia.” To install the malware, Symantec found, the attackers used decoy documents related to security issues in South Asia. The documents included reports from Reuters, Zee News, and the Hindu, and were related to military issues, Kashmir, and an Indian secessionist movement. The malware allows spies to upload and download files, carry out processes, log keystrokes, identify the target’s location, steal personal data, and take screenshots, Symantec said, adding that the malware was also being used to target Android devices. In response to frequent cyber-security incidents, India in February established a center to help companies and individuals detect and remove malware. The center is operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Gulshan Rai, the director general of CERT-In, declined to comment specifically on the attack cited in the Symantec report, but added: “We took prompt action when we discovered a back door last October after a group in Singapore alerted us.” He did not elaborate. Symantec's report said an investigation into the back door showed that it was constantly being modified to provide "additional capabilities" for spying operations. A senior official with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency said it had not received any reports of malware incidents from government information technology departments. He asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. A spokesman for FireEye, another cybersecurity company, said that based on an initial review of the malware, it had concluded that an internet protocol address in Pakistan had submitted the malware to a testing service. The spokesman requested anonymity, citing company policy. Another FireEye official said the attack reported by Symantec was not surprising. "South Asia is a hotbed of geopolitical tensions, and wherever we find heightened tensions we expect to see elevated levels of cyber espionage activity," said Tim Wellsmore, FireEye's director of threat intelligence for the Asia Pacific region. The Symantec report said the 'Ehdoor' back door was initially used in late 2016 to target government, military and military-affiliated targets in the Middle East and elsewhere.

India, Pakistan hit by state-sponsored spy malware: Cyber security firm

<p>It first happened in 2009, again&nbsp;in 2012 and then it repeated itself in 2016. Three times in a span of seven years, Shah Rukh Khan, the Indian films actor was detained at the US airport and no form of wealth, success or fame could help him evade this situation.</p>

<p>Have you ever wondered what went wrong with a man who has achieved globally acknowledged stardom? Do you buy into the logic of it just being plain and regular protocol? &nbsp;</p>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I fully understand &amp; respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really really sucks.</p>
&mdash; Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamsrk/status/763894690093473793">August 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<p><br />
&nbsp;Well, what happened to Shah Rukh Khan was not just an unfortunate incident but also a part of a larger mesh of issues concerning privacy, security and safety, both online and offline. It is the outcome of surveillance in the digital age where data points &nbsp;are fed to&nbsp;the system, while grossly ignoring everything about the personality and character of an individual. &nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
In Khan&rsquo;s case, every other factor of him being a superstar, who travels in a business class, is loved by people all around the world was superseded by the data points that matched to someone who has a criminal history or can trigger false alarms. The data points that were picked up were: male, Muslim name, Indian, and from a certain age.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Imagine Brad Pitt coming to India and being taken aside as a potential terrorist. This is how dangerous our world is today.</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Imagine Brad Pitt coming to India and being taken aside as a potential terrorist. This is how dangerous our world is today." target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Now imagine Brad Pitt coming to India and being taken aside as a potential terrorist. This is how dangerous our world is today. The image that these systems have of us is warped and is just based on these data points that are monitored by intelligence agencies. According to this, all of us can fall into one category or another and be framed for something we have not committed.</p>

<p><strong>The Constant Gaze</strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
Anja Kovacs who directs The Internet Democracy Project in India focuses on the Internet and human rights issues. The movement discusses the interplay of issues that most of us choose to ignore, of a state of constant surveillance, <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/data-privacy-in-modern-day-context-11906">data privacy issues&nbsp;</a>and government control of access and usage of the Internet.</p>

<p>She says, &quot;India is not an exceptional situation but because it&rsquo;s a diverse country--contradictions and inequalities are visible here. Challenges are more in your face here. Context is more visible.&quot;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
In this context, she talks about how surveillance functions. She says, &ldquo;The way it actually works is that somebody is watching you but what it essentially aims to do, is to police norms. Those who set these norms are often the ones who are watching and they decide how those who are being watched should behave. The thing about norms is that people say that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear but all of this would be on the wrong side of the norm at some point. In the case of Shahrukh Khan, the information about him was denuded in such a way that the data points that did show up flagged him as a potential threat, even if he had not done anything.&rdquo;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>It&#39;s not just about someone watching you but policing norms. Those who set these norms are the ones watching and they decide how those who are being watched should behave.</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=It's not just about someone watching you but policing norms. Those who set these norms are the ones watching and they decide how those who are being watched should behave." target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Discussing the nitty-gritty and compulsions of living in the digital age, we came to the conclusion that surveillance is more rampant now as more cameras are being put in place everywhere and more number of companies are tracking us online--and that makes us all very uncomfortable.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
What&rsquo;s dangerous for a democracy to sustain, is that the government has access to all our data and whether they have a good reason or not, they continue to watch us.</p>

<p><strong>Game of Algorithms</strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
Anja adds, &ldquo;They won&rsquo;t go and check what I am talking about but if I talk about terrorism too often, and I am connected to other people who are talking about terrorism then at some point they might start looking into my profile. For example, there has been a case in New York where a family found the US government joint terrorism task force at its doorstep because they had been googling the phrases &#39;pressure cooker bomb&#39; and &#39;backpack&#39;. The law enforcement agencies picked up on a white middle-class American family of parents and one small kid for googling those phrases. For the agencies, this flashed as an indication that they were likely to be making a bomb. Imagine the US police force wearing black suits entering a private property only to find nothing.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;This happens in a corporate scenario as well but the consequences aren&rsquo;t the same. Facebook cannot throw you in jail but they along with other corporations are trying to shape your behaviour in insidious ways, to try and get us to do certain things. That&#39;s why at one point last year; Facebook had announced that they are tweaking their algorithms, as people are not sharing enough personal updates. We don&#39;t know whether they were successful in getting people to share but we do know that Facebook wanted people to share more, as they wanted to do something.</p>

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<h5>Facebook cannot throw you in jail but they along with other corporations are trying to shape your behaviour in insidious ways</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text= Facebook cannot throw you in jail but they along with other corporations are trying to shape your behaviour in insidious ways" target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;It&#39;s dangerous to see what they can do with the algorithms, like how they use it to drive political campaigns during elections and move towards targeted campaigns. In America for example, in this year&rsquo;s elections, if we were seen as potential Trump supporters and possible voters, the messages we would get would be different because our profiles are different, unlike the earlier times when potential voters of a single party would receive same messaging.&rdquo;</p>

<h3>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/edge/humour-to-the-rescue-memes-flood-internet-post-us-election-8595">Humour to the rescue: Memes flood Internet post-US election</a><br />
&nbsp;</h3>

<p>But not all is negative in this forever connected world. Surveillance vests power in the watcher and using this, the dynamics can change with different actors at play. She narrates how some slum colonies in Delhi where riots happened used surveillance as a tool for their benefit. The community itself bought CCTV cameras because they got fed up with the police arresting boys from the neighbourhood and blaming them for riots while according to the locals, the actual violence was committed by people outside of the community. She says, &ldquo;They wanted to be in a situation where they can provide proof in future instances, so they reversed the gaze.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>While surveillance continues at every level, be it in the workplace or public spaces; the kind that government indulges in online, is always riskier. The government of any country has the right to keep a check but it &ldquo;ideally should happen only after the State has a suspicion on a person of a crime or any such affiliation&rdquo;. In earlier times, the system didn&rsquo;t necessarily work but &ldquo;at least in theory there were some checks and balances that didn&rsquo;t give enormous power to those doing the watching&rdquo;.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Anja adds, &ldquo;It means that as a society we have less and less control over setting the norms because somebody has set the norm and if we behave out of it, we will be penalised. We are not only just expecting it to happen but are more conscious and aware of our surroundings--how to behave in public spaces, what to say on social media, what data to pull out and etc.&rdquo;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>As a society we have less and less control over setting the norms because somebody has set the norm and if we behave out of it, we will be penalised.</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=As a society we have less and less control over setting the norms because somebody has set the norm and if we behave out of it, we will be penalised." target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqquoteclosemark">&times;</a></div>
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<p><strong>How Open is the Internet?</strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
A part of a movement that aims to make the<a href="http://www.wionews.com/science-tech/curb-on-online-speech-threat-to-open-internet-says-international-report-892">&nbsp;Internet free and a democratic space for all</a>, Anja explains that there is also something called nudging in public policy. Facebook also does nudging through tweaks to the algorithms so that they can incentivise you to do particular things.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Similarly, the Planning Commission of India, Niti Aayog also has a nudging unit now. She says, &ldquo;What they want to do is to use data of popular government schemes and tweak them slightly so that more&nbsp;people can benefit from the policies. So nudging can be used for positive means as well but you can easily use it for negative purposes.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&quot;There is no idea of what is being done with our data and who keeps a check. So it&rsquo;s not just the traditional form of surveillance where they are watching people to catch them when they do something wrong but it&rsquo;s really also about the insidious ways in which they are shaping the society, shaping people to do stuff without them knowing. As citizens, that&rsquo;s a problem.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
While surveillance is an issue that needs urgent attention and scope for active and open discussions, there is also a big question around how open the Internet really is?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Anja simply answers that it depends on ways on how you use the Internet. She says, &ldquo;There are still some ways of using the Internet that is much more decentralised where you have more control on your data but it&rsquo;s a little bit more complex. There&rsquo;s a reason why so many of us ended up on platforms like Facebook and Twitter as they made sharing of content so easy. But it&rsquo;s true that there has been a shift to more and more centralisation on the Internet even though the technology remains decentralised.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
She emphasises on focusing on how these big companies are trying to escape regulations everywhere and how they are able to become so big without anybody questioning them. She adds, &ldquo;Even Microsoft was put into antitrust regulations in the late 90&rsquo;s because they had bundled Explorer in every system. Explorer is still installed in every Windows system but we now have the choice of using or not using it. Managing a very strong presence in browsers they had left users with no option. People complained that Microsoft was forcing them to use their own ecosystems in too many ways. The reason&nbsp;as to why many use Firefox or Chrome&nbsp;instead of Explorer is as a result of that.&rdquo;</p>

<p><strong>Cyber Security&nbsp;</strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
When online we are usually privy to the eyes of many, even after checks and balances have been put in place. This concern gives fodder to cyber security, a term that is often used when talking about online safety for the weak and vulnerable.</p>

<h3>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/edge/are-we-going-to-lose-our-jobs-to-robots-11850">Are we going to lose our jobs to robots?</a></h3>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Anja, however, is not pleased with the existing discourse on cyber security. She says, &ldquo;The way it is present now--don&rsquo;t do this, don&rsquo;t do that is not helpful and it starts to become more like what we see in the offline space. Don&rsquo;t wear this when you are out, don&rsquo;t be out in the night etc., whereas if we want to make the Internet a safe place this is not the right approach. It&rsquo;s good to be conscious of what you are sharing, who you are sharing it with. You have to be smart. But there is no one-size-fits-all approach and currently, that is what it sounds like. We have to learn basics of risk assessment, to think about what are the threats in my life, actors that I should be worried about.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/image%20tweeted%20out%20by%20alyssa%20(1)-20170608072750.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
<p>National Cyber Security Policy 2013 (Source: Internet Democracy Project) (WION)</p>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;We have seen in many accounts that parents are complaining about how their children have no sense of privacy and they also complain about children not sharing enough with them. So, clearly the children have a sense of privacy but who they see as threat actors while who their parents think are threat actors are completely different. As children, they see their parents as threat actors and stop sharing information with them. Parents think random strangers are threat actors.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
This also emboldens the fact that people must understand the consequences of what they do online and take informed decisions. Lurking dangers of the new-age technology are glaring and it is upon us to make informed choices, to completely avoid or at least diminish the loss value attached to any attack via the Internet.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Starting in 2011, The Internet Democracy Project has been focusing on the Internet and human rights issues. Their focus is on bringing together the domain of technology with ideas of democracy and social justice. However, in a world where authoritarian tendencies trump democratic values and promises of social justice are yet to be realised, it is a still a long road before misuses&nbsp;of technology can be stopped by brining in more accountability in the surveillance system.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;(WION)</p>


We need to find out who decides who is watching whom in online surveillance and what they are doing with all the data collected?

It first happened in 2009, again in 2012 and then it repeated itself in 2016. Three times in a span of seven years, Shah Rukh Khan, the Indian films actor was detained at the US airport and no form of wealth, success or fame could help him evade this situation. Have you ever wondered what went wrong with a man who has achieved globally acknowledged stardom? Do you buy into the logic of it just being plain and regular protocol? I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really really sucks. — Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) August 12, 2016 × Well, what happened to Shah Rukh Khan was not just an unfortunate incident but also a part of a larger mesh of issues concerning privacy, security and safety, both online and offline. It is the outcome of surveillance in the digital age where data points are fed to the system, while grossly ignoring everything about the personality and character of an individual. In Khan’s case, every other factor of him being a superstar, who travels in a business class, is loved by people all around the world was superseded by the data points that matched to someone who has a criminal history or can trigger false alarms. The data points that were picked up were: male, Muslim name, Indian, and from a certain age. Imagine Brad Pitt coming to India and being taken aside as a potential terrorist. This is how dangerous our world is today. × Now imagine Brad Pitt coming to India and being taken aside as a potential terrorist. This is how dangerous our world is today. The image that these systems have of us is warped and is just based on these data points that are monitored by intelligence agencies. According to this, all of us can fall into one category or another and be framed for something we have not committed. The Constant Gaze Anja Kovacs who directs The Internet Democracy Project in India focuses on the Internet and human rights issues. The movement discusses the interplay of issues that most of us choose to ignore, of a state of constant surveillance, data privacy issues and government control of access and usage of the Internet. She says, "India is not an exceptional situation but because it’s a diverse country--contradictions and inequalities are visible here. Challenges are more in your face here. Context is more visible." In this context, she talks about how surveillance functions. She says, “The way it actually works is that somebody is watching you but what it essentially aims to do, is to police norms. Those who set these norms are often the ones who are watching and they decide how those who are being watched should behave. The thing about norms is that people say that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear but all of this would be on the wrong side of the norm at some point. In the case of Shahrukh Khan, the information about him was denuded in such a way that the data points that did show up flagged him as a potential threat, even if he had not done anything.” It's not just about someone watching you but policing norms. Those who set these norms are the ones watching and they decide how those who are being watched should behave. × Discussing the nitty-gritty and compulsions of living in the digital age, we came to the conclusion that surveillance is more rampant now as more cameras are being put in place everywhere and more number of companies are tracking us online--and that makes us all very uncomfortable. What’s dangerous for a democracy to sustain, is that the government has access to all our data and whether they have a good reason or not, they continue to watch us. Game of Algorithms Anja adds, “They won’t go and check what I am talking about but if I talk about terrorism too often, and I am connected to other people who are talking about terrorism then at some point they might start looking into my profile. For example, there has been a case in New York where a family found the US government joint terrorism task force at its doorstep because they had been googling the phrases 'pressure cooker bomb' and 'backpack'. The law enforcement agencies picked up on a white middle-class American family of parents and one small kid for googling those phrases. For the agencies, this flashed as an indication that they were likely to be making a bomb. Imagine the US police force wearing black suits entering a private property only to find nothing. “This happens in a corporate scenario as well but the consequences aren’t the same. Facebook cannot throw you in jail but they along with other corporations are trying to shape your behaviour in insidious ways, to try and get us to do certain things. That's why at one point last year; Facebook had announced that they are tweaking their algorithms, as people are not sharing enough personal updates. We don't know whether they were successful in getting people to share but we do know that Facebook wanted people to share more, as they wanted to do something. Facebook cannot throw you in jail but they along with other corporations are trying to shape your behaviour in insidious ways × “It's dangerous to see what they can do with the algorithms, like how they use it to drive political campaigns during elections and move towards targeted campaigns. In America for example, in this year’s elections, if we were seen as potential Trump supporters and possible voters, the messages we would get would be different because our profiles are different, unlike the earlier times when potential voters of a single party would receive same messaging.” Also Read: Humour to the rescue: Memes flood Internet post-US election But not all is negative in this forever connected world. Surveillance vests power in the watcher and using this, the dynamics can change with different actors at play. She narrates how some slum colonies in Delhi where riots happened used surveillance as a tool for their benefit. The community itself bought CCTV cameras because they got fed up with the police arresting boys from the neighbourhood and blaming them for riots while according to the locals, the actual violence was committed by people outside of the community. She says, “They wanted to be in a situation where they can provide proof in future instances, so they reversed the gaze.” While surveillance continues at every level, be it in the workplace or public spaces; the kind that government indulges in online, is always riskier. The government of any country has the right to keep a check but it “ideally should happen only after the State has a suspicion on a person of a crime or any such affiliation”. In earlier times, the system didn’t necessarily work but “at least in theory there were some checks and balances that didn’t give enormous power to those doing the watching”. Anja adds, “It means that as a society we have less and less control over setting the norms because somebody has set the norm and if we behave out of it, we will be penalised. We are not only just expecting it to happen but are more conscious and aware of our surroundings--how to behave in public spaces, what to say on social media, what data to pull out and etc.” As a society we have less and less control over setting the norms because somebody has set the norm and if we behave out of it, we will be penalised. × How Open is the Internet? A part of a movement that aims to make the Internet free and a democratic space for all, Anja explains that there is also something called nudging in public policy. Facebook also does nudging through tweaks to the algorithms so that they can incentivise you to do particular things. Similarly, the Planning Commission of India, Niti Aayog also has a nudging unit now. She says, “What they want to do is to use data of popular government schemes and tweak them slightly so that more people can benefit from the policies. So nudging can be used for positive means as well but you can easily use it for negative purposes. "There is no idea of what is being done with our data and who keeps a check. So it’s not just the traditional form of surveillance where they are watching people to catch them when they do something wrong but it’s really also about the insidious ways in which they are shaping the society, shaping people to do stuff without them knowing. As citizens, that’s a problem.” While surveillance is an issue that needs urgent attention and scope for active and open discussions, there is also a big question around how open the Internet really is? Anja simply answers that it depends on ways on how you use the Internet. She says, “There are still some ways of using the Internet that is much more decentralised where you have more control on your data but it’s a little bit more complex. There’s a reason why so many of us ended up on platforms like Facebook and Twitter as they made sharing of content so easy. But it’s true that there has been a shift to more and more centralisation on the Internet even though the technology remains decentralised.” She emphasises on focusing on how these big companies are trying to escape regulations everywhere and how they are able to become so big without anybody questioning them. She adds, “Even Microsoft was put into antitrust regulations in the late 90’s because they had bundled Explorer in every system. Explorer is still installed in every Windows system but we now have the choice of using or not using it. Managing a very strong presence in browsers they had left users with no option. People complained that Microsoft was forcing them to use their own ecosystems in too many ways. The reason as to why many use Firefox or Chrome instead of Explorer is as a result of that.” Cyber Security When online we are usually privy to the eyes of many, even after checks and balances have been put in place. This concern gives fodder to cyber security, a term that is often used when talking about online safety for the weak and vulnerable. Also Read: Are we going to lose our jobs to robots? Anja, however, is not pleased with the existing discourse on cyber security. She says, “The way it is present now--don’t do this, don’t do that is not helpful and it starts to become more like what we see in the offline space. Don’t wear this when you are out, don’t be out in the night etc., whereas if we want to make the Internet a safe place this is not the right approach. It’s good to be conscious of what you are sharing, who you are sharing it with. You have to be smart. But there is no one-size-fits-all approach and currently, that is what it sounds like. We have to learn basics of risk assessment, to think about what are the threats in my life, actors that I should be worried about. National Cyber Security Policy 2013 (Source: Internet Democracy Project) (WION) × “We have seen in many accounts that parents are complaining about how their children have no sense of privacy and they also complain about children not sharing enough with them. So, clearly the children have a sense of privacy but who they see as threat actors while who their parents think are threat actors are completely different. As children, they see their parents as threat actors and stop sharing information with them. Parents think random strangers are threat actors.” This also emboldens the fact that people must understand the consequences of what they do online and take informed decisions. Lurking dangers of the new-age technology are glaring and it is upon us to make informed choices, to completely avoid or at least diminish the loss value attached to any attack via the Internet. Starting in 2011, The Internet Democracy Project has been focusing on the Internet and human rights issues. Their focus is on bringing together the domain of technology with ideas of democracy and social justice. However, in a world where authoritarian tendencies trump democratic values and promises of social justice are yet to be realised, it is a still a long road before misuses of technology can be stopped by brining in more accountability in the surveillance system. (WION)

Do you feel the gaze? We all are being watched

<p>If you ever thought that the internet was free of any prejudice and that in its basic sense, it gives people equal rights to act and react, then you are wrong. The internet is anything but gender-neutral and&nbsp;there is a growing need for a feminist internet: one which has an equal space for women&nbsp;to sexual expression, consent and control of data.</p>

<p>Champion of the feminist internet,&nbsp;Anja Kovacs directs The Internet Democracy Project, an initiative at Point of View&nbsp;which works towards providing opportunities to people whereby they use the Internet informed and judiciously.</p>

<p>She points out, &ldquo;Women have been surveilled by communities and families for centuries. We know the impact that it has. Most people who are open to the kind of things we do can see the restrictions that are there to women that are not on men. This harms women&rsquo;s lives, shapes their lives in particular ways because they constantly have to be careful of what they are doing, where they are going--they constantly have to justify.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Trends reflect that India is like any other country where patriarchy is strongly steeped within the structure of the society. This often gets translated to the nature of communication communities have within themselves and enforces on individuals, majorly women.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There is evidence according to Anja that &ldquo;the more conservative the family is, the more restricted you are on the Internet&rdquo;.</p>

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<p><strong>Does it affect all women?&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>She adds,&nbsp;&quot;I think this is actually true for all women, for you and me as well as for the poorest of the poor. I think it plays out differently though depending on your background, location. &nbsp;Also, financial independence as we have seen that money allows you certain things that you will otherwise be restricted from. For example, your family might not be comfortable with you going out in the night but if they know you can take a taxi, you can get a ride from a friend they know, and you have a mobile phone with which they can be in touch with you constantly--then maybe it&rsquo;s ok. But you have to be able to afford all of that.&quot;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;The fact that women are surveilled more than men is consistent. This divide might be sharper in India but I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s unique to India. A lot of surveillance in India in more conservative communities has really to do with the fears around women&rsquo;s sexuality and the importance of women&rsquo;s virginity for the reputation of a family. It&rsquo;s not just about keeping an individual woman safe but it&rsquo;s also about maintaining the reputation of the entire family and community. The weight of all that falls on women&#39;s shoulders.&rdquo;</p>

<p>On May 3, 2017, a village in UP banned the usage of mobile phones by women, as an order by Khap Panchayat but there&rsquo;s nothing new in the news. The same diktat was announced in several villages of UP, Haryana and Rajasthan in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and even before. According to news reports, every time this ban was pronounced, it was because the Panchayat wanted to restrict women&rsquo;s communication with men and not vice-versa.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>In Muzaffarnagar, the banning of mobile phones was supported as though they are bad for girls, create spaces of privacy and independence that will lead to trouble. It should only be allowed ideally after marriage, definitely not before college.</h5>
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<p>According to Anja: &ldquo;In Muzaffarnagar, the idea (banning of mobile phones) was supported as though they are bad for girls, create spaces of privacy and independence that will only lead to trouble. It should only be allowed ideally after marriage, definitely not before college. However, the same rules do not apply to boys.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Sadly, this is not just restricted to the elders in Khap Panchayat as the same sentiment is shared by the rural womenfolk too.&ldquo;We met with a woman in Muzaffarnagar who happens to also work for women empowerment. She introduced us to the phrase &lsquo;chupke, chupke&rsquo; (hidden in English). She said that whenever you have to do something &lsquo;chupke chupke&rsquo; then it&rsquo;s always bad. Girls get phones from their boyfriends, stay in bathrooms or separate rooms for long and talk behind closed doors&rdquo;, narrates Anja.</p>

<p><strong>Social norms influence women&rsquo;s lives</strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
Social norms affect women&rsquo;s role in the society, status, empowerment, and access to education and income in society, and consequently their relationship with mobile technology. It is often hidden within other, more commonly cited barriers that influence women&rsquo;s access to and use of mobile technology.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;Village women only know that the green button is for picking up phone calls and the red one for disconnecting the phone&rdquo;, says a rural male from India. This, because women are only taught to do this on mobile phones, and that too in the company of others.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Why are women not allowed to use the Internet with privacy?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;It breaks my heart to tell you that a school teacher in a village told us that the Constitution cannot run at the cost of village way of life. He responded like this when we told him how ironical it was between what was being taught to young girls and what they were practising in real life. These girls who otherwise speak in Hindi, learn words like equality and rights in classrooms but are aware of the contradictions in their life. One girl even questioned us as to &lsquo;why is it that my brother can use the phone whenever he wants?&rdquo;, Anja responds.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
In this sense, desktops are appreciated by all as &ldquo;they are family owned, kept in a room where everybody can see what you are doing or is in a school where there is a supervisor to keep a tab on you&rdquo;.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Talking about rural families in small towns and conservative communities in India, they are usually dependent on agriculture which is reeling under agrarian distress at the moment. To build a future, these families understand the value of Internet and technology. While striving for upward mobility, most families are not enforcing a complete ban but monitored usage of the Internet among girls. Anja adds, &ldquo;For them, access to the Internet in private spaces doesn&rsquo;t work as those are essential to blocking relationships that families are uncomfortable with. Facebook thus became a taboo--as they assume that it is not for education but for marriage and to find love.&rdquo;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Gender gap in mobile phone ownership in the world (Source: GSMA report) (Others)</p>
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<p>An existing notion of the Internet being an evil in conservative communities of India and other low-and-middle-income countries reflect poorly on women&rsquo;s right to expression and freedom. There are 3.6 billion mobile internet users around the world, in which women on average are 14 per cent&nbsp;less likely to own a mobile phone than a man, which translates into 200 million fewer women than men owning mobile phones. Women in South Asia are 38 per cent&nbsp;less likely to own a phone than a man, highlighting that the gender gap in mobile phone ownership is wider in certain parts of the world. (According to GSMA Input into Report on the Digital Gender Divide, February 2017). &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Background profile of the woman and her family is very important to judge the level of discrimination and subjective treatment. All those times Delhi Metro leaked footages of couples cosying up in the train or platforms raised an alarm in public, we are forced to think how worse it would affect the people involved. Anja says, &ldquo;For a woman, there is an impact in a way there isn&rsquo;t for a man. It&rsquo;s true even for the most privileged woman because even though I might not adhere to a certain mindset but my neighbours will look at me in a particular way, people around me will look at me in a particular way; it&rsquo;s still a pressure you feel.&rdquo;</p>

<p>As part of a research to find&nbsp;&ldquo;who tames whom on the Internet&rdquo; and &ldquo;why are women policed in India on their Internet usage and access rights&rdquo;, these are some of the most popular answers recorded on a popular social media site:&nbsp;</p>

<p>A 28-year-old newly married girl from Aligarh wrote:&nbsp;&ldquo;He questions my character if I talk on Whatsapp after 7 pm, he thinks I do sexting.&rdquo;</p>

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<h5>He questions my character if I talk on Whatsapp after 7 pm, he thinks I do sexting.</h5>
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<p>A 20-year-old female student from Mumbai lamented:&nbsp;&ldquo;My face featured in one of the most popular searches on a porn website even though I have never had sex in my life. It was taken down after a formal complaint but I became a butt of jokes.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A 36-year-old male businessman from Ghaziabad audaciously comment,&nbsp;&ldquo;Why do you (girls) need the Internet? Who do you want to expose your body to? What else do you do on Facebook and Instagram&rdquo;</p>

<p>Reinforcing supremacy of one gender over another strengthens in its claim by citing these social norms. Research conducted by GSMA indicates that over centuries, using the same reasons of morality and culture, women have been denied access to technology, especially the kind that enables them to voice their opinion and look beyond.&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to 2015 research on Connected Women titled Bridging the Gender Gap: Mobile Access and Usage in low- and middle-income countries by GSMA: Over 3 billion people in low- and middle-income countries do not own mobile phones, and most of them&mdash;1.7 billion&mdash;are estimated to be female. Nearly two-third&nbsp;of unconnected females live in the South Asia and East Asia &amp; Pacific regions which is not surprising given that these two regions are the largest in terms of population.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

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<p>India has the highest number of women without access to the internet and social media (Source: GSMA report) (Others)</p>
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<p><strong>Dilemmas of being online for women</strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
Women are far behind in numbers in the usage of social media in comparison to men. As cited in the report by GSMA, there are roughly 3 men for every woman on Facebook in India. In 2015, Facebook had 111 million users in India, of which 84 million are men and only 27 million are women.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Three notable exceptions, however, are Egypt, where women use Facebook and Twitter more than men; China, where women and men use WeChat equally; and Jordan, where women and men use Twitter equally.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Apart from social norms and surveillance issues, women also face dangers in the form of cyber security issues while using social media. The term essentially includes everything under online abuse like trolling, sextortion, revenge porn and others.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Working extensively on these issues, Anja discusses, &ldquo;Trolls target both men and women but how men are targeted is very different from how women are targeted. With men it&rsquo;s more like &lsquo;you don&rsquo;t know what you are talking about&rsquo; but for a woman &lsquo;it&rsquo;s always about her sexuality&rsquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;This is what happened with Priyanka Chopra recently when she wore a dress to meet PM Modi. They used words like &lsquo;slut, whore&rsquo; and anything that she has achieved was easily forgotten. In a way, the troll is an extension of surveillance, if surveillance is about policing norms then trolling is policing norms on the internet. They tried to police Priyanka. It was their way of asking her to behave the way they idealise it, like a traditional Indian woman. They were perturbed by the fact that Priyanka, being a woman, is living a happy life as a successful and independent woman.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;Trolling is about reinforcing fear on the internet.&rdquo;</p>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Anja talks about a friend who has a knack of dealing with all trollers. She says, &ldquo;I know a woman who says that &lsquo;your weapon and his weapon are same on the Internet. &nbsp;I have a keyboard, he has a keyboard so then what the f#@! is holding you back? Speak up!&rsquo;&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Anja believes that trolling is never progressive in nature. &ldquo;They won&rsquo;t ever say &lsquo;man you are so conservative, you should stand up for your rights. Trolling is always reinforcing power. It&rsquo;s a structural thing, linked with surveillance&rdquo;, she adds. &nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Police records indicate that women these days are most disturbed by the rise in crimes involving images, taken with the aim of morphing, revenge porn and sextortion. Anja says, &ldquo;Women&rsquo;s naked images have a power that naked images of men don&rsquo;t. You can&rsquo;t blackmail a man with naked images because the power is not the same. So who pays the price--disproportionately the woman. Few men who are convicted are usually those blackmailed by a guy in homosexual relationships.&quot;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;The aim should be to expand space for women and not reduce the already narrow space. We need a much more concerted response. We advocate for non-legal responses as you can&rsquo;t go to the police and complain because your timeline is full of words like slut, &nbsp;bitch...That&rsquo;s really troubling.&quot;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;Colleagues in Brazil came up with something called &lsquo;Safer nudes&rsquo;: Safer, not safe because you can never be sure. There are apps nowadays that allow you to delete messages from your phone as well as from the one you have sent. Also, there are apps that alert you when someone takes a screenshot of your photo. We need to have knowledge of these things. So if you are sending these images, then avoid Whatsapp because at least other apps will help you send in a safer way. Their dialogue is basically around empowering and giving the control back to women while creating their own space on the Internet.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A feminist by principle and action, Anja feels it important to start a dialogue for a feminist Internet: one which has a space for women gives them right to sexual expression, consent and control of data. The Internet is a big bad world for women and after all, &ldquo;people around you shape you, especially as a woman&rdquo;, she adds.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
(WION)&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Abused, trolled and barred from using the Internet, women are demanding a feminist Internet which gives them a free space

If you ever thought that the internet was free of any prejudice and that in its basic sense, it gives people equal rights to act and react, then you are wrong. The internet is anything but gender-neutral and there is a growing need for a feminist internet: one which has an equal space for women to sexual expression, consent and control of data. Champion of the feminist internet, Anja Kovacs directs The Internet Democracy Project, an initiative at Point of View which works towards providing opportunities to people whereby they use the Internet informed and judiciously. She points out, “Women have been surveilled by communities and families for centuries. We know the impact that it has. Most people who are open to the kind of things we do can see the restrictions that are there to women that are not on men. This harms women’s lives, shapes their lives in particular ways because they constantly have to be careful of what they are doing, where they are going--they constantly have to justify.” Trends reflect that India is like any other country where patriarchy is strongly steeped within the structure of the society. This often gets translated to the nature of communication communities have within themselves and enforces on individuals, majorly women. There is evidence according to Anja that “the more conservative the family is, the more restricted you are on the Internet”. The more conservative the family is, the more restricted you are on the Internet. × Does it affect all women? She adds, "I think this is actually true for all women, for you and me as well as for the poorest of the poor. I think it plays out differently though depending on your background, location. Also, financial independence as we have seen that money allows you certain things that you will otherwise be restricted from. For example, your family might not be comfortable with you going out in the night but if they know you can take a taxi, you can get a ride from a friend they know, and you have a mobile phone with which they can be in touch with you constantly--then maybe it’s ok. But you have to be able to afford all of that." “The fact that women are surveilled more than men is consistent. This divide might be sharper in India but I don’t think it’s unique to India. A lot of surveillance in India in more conservative communities has really to do with the fears around women’s sexuality and the importance of women’s virginity for the reputation of a family. It’s not just about keeping an individual woman safe but it’s also about maintaining the reputation of the entire family and community. The weight of all that falls on women's shoulders.” On May 3, 2017, a village in UP banned the usage of mobile phones by women, as an order by Khap Panchayat but there’s nothing new in the news. The same diktat was announced in several villages of UP, Haryana and Rajasthan in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and even before. According to news reports, every time this ban was pronounced, it was because the Panchayat wanted to restrict women’s communication with men and not vice-versa. In Muzaffarnagar, the banning of mobile phones was supported as though they are bad for girls, create spaces of privacy and independence that will lead to trouble. It should only be allowed ideally after marriage, definitely not before college. × According to Anja: “In Muzaffarnagar, the idea (banning of mobile phones) was supported as though they are bad for girls, create spaces of privacy and independence that will only lead to trouble. It should only be allowed ideally after marriage, definitely not before college. However, the same rules do not apply to boys.” Sadly, this is not just restricted to the elders in Khap Panchayat as the same sentiment is shared by the rural womenfolk too.“We met with a woman in Muzaffarnagar who happens to also work for women empowerment. She introduced us to the phrase ‘chupke, chupke’ (hidden in English). She said that whenever you have to do something ‘chupke chupke’ then it’s always bad. Girls get phones from their boyfriends, stay in bathrooms or separate rooms for long and talk behind closed doors”, narrates Anja. Social norms influence women’s lives Social norms affect women’s role in the society, status, empowerment, and access to education and income in society, and consequently their relationship with mobile technology. It is often hidden within other, more commonly cited barriers that influence women’s access to and use of mobile technology. “Village women only know that the green button is for picking up phone calls and the red one for disconnecting the phone”, says a rural male from India. This, because women are only taught to do this on mobile phones, and that too in the company of others. Why are women not allowed to use the Internet with privacy? “It breaks my heart to tell you that a school teacher in a village told us that the Constitution cannot run at the cost of village way of life. He responded like this when we told him how ironical it was between what was being taught to young girls and what they were practising in real life. These girls who otherwise speak in Hindi, learn words like equality and rights in classrooms but are aware of the contradictions in their life. One girl even questioned us as to ‘why is it that my brother can use the phone whenever he wants?”, Anja responds. In this sense, desktops are appreciated by all as “they are family owned, kept in a room where everybody can see what you are doing or is in a school where there is a supervisor to keep a tab on you”. Talking about rural families in small towns and conservative communities in India, they are usually dependent on agriculture which is reeling under agrarian distress at the moment. To build a future, these families understand the value of Internet and technology. While striving for upward mobility, most families are not enforcing a complete ban but monitored usage of the Internet among girls. Anja adds, “For them, access to the Internet in private spaces doesn’t work as those are essential to blocking relationships that families are uncomfortable with. Facebook thus became a taboo--as they assume that it is not for education but for marriage and to find love.” Gender gap in mobile phone ownership in the world (Source: GSMA report) (Others) × An existing notion of the Internet being an evil in conservative communities of India and other low-and-middle-income countries reflect poorly on women’s right to expression and freedom. There are 3.6 billion mobile internet users around the world, in which women on average are 14 per cent less likely to own a mobile phone than a man, which translates into 200 million fewer women than men owning mobile phones. Women in South Asia are 38 per cent less likely to own a phone than a man, highlighting that the gender gap in mobile phone ownership is wider in certain parts of the world. (According to GSMA Input into Report on the Digital Gender Divide, February 2017). Background profile of the woman and her family is very important to judge the level of discrimination and subjective treatment. All those times Delhi Metro leaked footages of couples cosying up in the train or platforms raised an alarm in public, we are forced to think how worse it would affect the people involved. Anja says, “For a woman, there is an impact in a way there isn’t for a man. It’s true even for the most privileged woman because even though I might not adhere to a certain mindset but my neighbours will look at me in a particular way, people around me will look at me in a particular way; it’s still a pressure you feel.” As part of a research to find “who tames whom on the Internet” and “why are women policed in India on their Internet usage and access rights”, these are some of the most popular answers recorded on a popular social media site: A 28-year-old newly married girl from Aligarh wrote: “He questions my character if I talk on Whatsapp after 7 pm, he thinks I do sexting.” He questions my character if I talk on Whatsapp after 7 pm, he thinks I do sexting. × A 20-year-old female student from Mumbai lamented: “My face featured in one of the most popular searches on a porn website even though I have never had sex in my life. It was taken down after a formal complaint but I became a butt of jokes.” A 36-year-old male businessman from Ghaziabad audaciously comment, “Why do you (girls) need the Internet? Who do you want to expose your body to? What else do you do on Facebook and Instagram” Reinforcing supremacy of one gender over another strengthens in its claim by citing these social norms. Research conducted by GSMA indicates that over centuries, using the same reasons of morality and culture, women have been denied access to technology, especially the kind that enables them to voice their opinion and look beyond. According to 2015 research on Connected Women titled Bridging the Gender Gap: Mobile Access and Usage in low- and middle-income countries by GSMA: Over 3 billion people in low- and middle-income countries do not own mobile phones, and most of them—1.7 billion—are estimated to be female. Nearly two-third of unconnected females live in the South Asia and East Asia & Pacific regions which is not surprising given that these two regions are the largest in terms of population. India has the highest number of women without access to the internet and social media (Source: GSMA report) (Others) × Dilemmas of being online for women Women are far behind in numbers in the usage of social media in comparison to men. As cited in the report by GSMA, there are roughly 3 men for every woman on Facebook in India. In 2015, Facebook had 111 million users in India, of which 84 million are men and only 27 million are women. Three notable exceptions, however, are Egypt, where women use Facebook and Twitter more than men; China, where women and men use WeChat equally; and Jordan, where women and men use Twitter equally. Apart from social norms and surveillance issues, women also face dangers in the form of cyber security issues while using social media. The term essentially includes everything under online abuse like trolling, sextortion, revenge porn and others. Working extensively on these issues, Anja discusses, “Trolls target both men and women but how men are targeted is very different from how women are targeted. With men it’s more like ‘you don’t know what you are talking about’ but for a woman ‘it’s always about her sexuality’. "This is what happened with Priyanka Chopra recently when she wore a dress to meet PM Modi. They used words like ‘slut, whore’ and anything that she has achieved was easily forgotten. In a way, the troll is an extension of surveillance, if surveillance is about policing norms then trolling is policing norms on the internet. They tried to police Priyanka. It was their way of asking her to behave the way they idealise it, like a traditional Indian woman. They were perturbed by the fact that Priyanka, being a woman, is living a happy life as a successful and independent woman. “Trolling is about reinforcing fear on the internet.” Trolling is about reinforcing fear on the Internet. A friend of mine insists that our weapon and his are the same on the Internet. Use the keyboard and speak up! × Anja talks about a friend who has a knack of dealing with all trollers. She says, “I know a woman who says that ‘your weapon and his weapon are same on the Internet. I have a keyboard, he has a keyboard so then what the f#@! is holding you back? Speak up!’” Anja believes that trolling is never progressive in nature. “They won’t ever say ‘man you are so conservative, you should stand up for your rights. Trolling is always reinforcing power. It’s a structural thing, linked with surveillance”, she adds. Police records indicate that women these days are most disturbed by the rise in crimes involving images, taken with the aim of morphing, revenge porn and sextortion. Anja says, “Women’s naked images have a power that naked images of men don’t. You can’t blackmail a man with naked images because the power is not the same. So who pays the price--disproportionately the woman. Few men who are convicted are usually those blackmailed by a guy in homosexual relationships." “The aim should be to expand space for women and not reduce the already narrow space. We need a much more concerted response. We advocate for non-legal responses as you can’t go to the police and complain because your timeline is full of words like slut, bitch...That’s really troubling." “Colleagues in Brazil came up with something called ‘Safer nudes’: Safer, not safe because you can never be sure. There are apps nowadays that allow you to delete messages from your phone as well as from the one you have sent. Also, there are apps that alert you when someone takes a screenshot of your photo. We need to have knowledge of these things. So if you are sending these images, then avoid Whatsapp because at least other apps will help you send in a safer way. Their dialogue is basically around empowering and giving the control back to women while creating their own space on the Internet.” A feminist by principle and action, Anja feels it important to start a dialogue for a feminist Internet: one which has a space for women gives them right to sexual expression, consent and control of data. The Internet is a big bad world for women and after all, “people around you shape you, especially as a woman”, she adds. (WION)

The Internet is bad for Indian women

<p>Trump was out of sync with the leaders of Western countries at the G20, but showed a close fondness for Vladimir Putin.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trump was the only leader of the world&#39;s major economies to reverse&nbsp;his country&#39;s pledge to&nbsp;achieve&nbsp;the climate goals set out in the Paris climate accord, which the 19 other countries called &quot;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/world/europe/group-of-20-climate-change-agreement.html" target="_blank">irreversible</a>&quot;.</p>

<p>Trump and Putin said they look forward to working together on cybersecurity, even though multiple US intelligence agencies say Russia launched a broad cyber campaign against the United States&nbsp;to interfere&nbsp;with the 2016 election, with the specific aim to get Trump elected.</p>

<p>Trump emerged from the G20 saying he &quot;accepted&quot; Putin&#39;s claim that Russia did not interfere in the election.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The US president tweeted today (June 9) that Putin &quot;vehemently denied&quot; interfering in the presidential election.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I&#39;ve already given my opinion.....</p>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884012097805406208">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">...We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!</p>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884013689736769536">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Putin &amp; I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, &amp; many other negative things, will be guarded..</p>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884016887692234753">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">...and safe. Questions were asked about why the CIA &amp; FBI had to ask the DNC 13 times for their SERVER, and were rejected, still don&#39;t....</p>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884018776391503872">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>This comes even though on June 26, 2017, he posted a Tweet in which he appears to accept that there was in fact Russian meddling in the US election. However, he blamed Obama, not Russia, for it.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia...</p>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/879323238425395200">June 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Trump&#39;s position also appeared in contrast to that of Haley&#39;s position who said on Sunday that &quot;everybody knows&quot; Russia meddled in the 2016 elections and now they were trying to &quot;save &nbsp;face&quot;.</p>

<p>Defending Trump, Haley said Trump confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the election meddling at the G20</p>

<p>&quot;What I understand is that President Trump let them know that, look, we know you did this (meddled in US elections), and cut it out. And President Putin is never going to admit that they did it. And so they have to come back and they have to defend themselves,&quot; Nikki Haley told CNN.</p>

<p>&quot;This is Russia trying to save face. And they can&#39;t. They can&#39;t. Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections. Everybody knows that they&#39;re not just meddling in the United States&#39; election. They&#39;re doing this across multiple continents, and they&#39;re doing this in a way that they&#39;re trying to cause chaos within the countries,&quot; she said.</p>

<p>This comes just as the Washington Post reported that&nbsp;Russian government hackers have penetrated energy and nuclear company business networks.</p>

<p>Trump also made a peace deal with Russia regarding Syria which, as the Daily Beast summarises:&nbsp;Will leave dictator Bashar al-Assad in power, who, this April, Trump said &quot;needed to go&quot; because of his alleged chemical weapons attacks on his own people. The deal will permits the idea of &quot;safe zones&quot; proposed by Russia and its backers, and it depends on cooperation from Moscow, including the use of Russian troops to patrol parts of the country.</p>

<p><strong>Basic Russia-Trump background coming in to G20</strong></p>

<p>Highly anticipated was Trump&#39;s first meeting as president with Vladimit Putin. Media outlets have&nbsp;stated it is their first meeting together, but more precisely it is definitely the first time Trump has met Putin as US president;&nbsp;it is not exactly&nbsp;clear that they have never met.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Donald Trump has given many different accounts of his&nbsp;relationship with Putin, saying &quot;I have never met Putin&quot; on one occassion and &quot;I don&#39;t think I&#39;ve ever met him&quot; on another. He has claimed adamently he &quot;has no relationship with Putin&quot;, and, in 2013, when asked if he has a relationship with Putin said &quot;I do have a relationship&quot;.&nbsp;On&nbsp;one occassion he&nbsp;said &quot;I was in Moscow recently, and I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin&quot;.</p>

<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3VjpE3Z1-bw" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>There are currently several ongoing investiations into Donald Trump and his administration&#39;s links to Russia.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/CATCH-UP-Where-we-are-and-whats-next-for-all-the-Trump-Russia-investigations/articleshow/59084422.cms" target="_blank">Justice Department</a> has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counselor to&nbsp;lead the DOJ investigation into &quot;any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.&quot;</p>

<p>Mueller is also leading a&nbsp;criminal investigation to see if&nbsp;obstruction of justice, witness intimidation or perjury&nbsp;were committed by anyone involved in his other investigation, including President Trump.</p>

<p>The Senate And House Intelligence Committee is also investigating Trump&#39;s administration&#39;s connection to Russia.</p>

<p>So is the Senate Judiciary and also the House Oversight and Government Reform Committees are also investigating Trump and Russia.</p>


Trump split with US intel by accepting Putin's claim Russia didn't interfere in the US election, then pledged to work with Russia on cybersecurity

Trump was out of sync with the leaders of Western countries at the G20, but showed a close fondness for Vladimir Putin. Trump was the only leader of the world's major economies to reverse his country's pledge to achieve the climate goals set out in the Paris climate accord, which the 19 other countries called "irreversible". Trump and Putin said they look forward to working together on cybersecurity, even though multiple US intelligence agencies say Russia launched a broad cyber campaign against the United States to interfere with the 2016 election, with the specific aim to get Trump elected. Trump emerged from the G20 saying he "accepted" Putin's claim that Russia did not interfere in the election. The US president tweeted today (June 9) that Putin "vehemently denied" interfering in the presidential election. I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I've already given my opinion..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017 × ...We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017 × Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017 × ...and safe. Questions were asked about why the CIA & FBI had to ask the DNC 13 times for their SERVER, and were rejected, still don't.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017 × This comes even though on June 26, 2017, he posted a Tweet in which he appears to accept that there was in fact Russian meddling in the US election. However, he blamed Obama, not Russia, for it. The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017 × Trump's position also appeared in contrast to that of Haley's position who said on Sunday that "everybody knows" Russia meddled in the 2016 elections and now they were trying to "save face". Defending Trump, Haley said Trump confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the election meddling at the G20 "What I understand is that President Trump let them know that, look, we know you did this (meddled in US elections), and cut it out. And President Putin is never going to admit that they did it. And so they have to come back and they have to defend themselves," Nikki Haley told CNN. "This is Russia trying to save face. And they can't. They can't. Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections. Everybody knows that they're not just meddling in the United States' election. They're doing this across multiple continents, and they're doing this in a way that they're trying to cause chaos within the countries," she said. This comes just as the Washington Post reported that Russian government hackers have penetrated energy and nuclear company business networks. Trump also made a peace deal with Russia regarding Syria which, as the Daily Beast summarises: Will leave dictator Bashar al-Assad in power, who, this April, Trump said "needed to go" because of his alleged chemical weapons attacks on his own people. The deal will permits the idea of "safe zones" proposed by Russia and its backers, and it depends on cooperation from Moscow, including the use of Russian troops to patrol parts of the country. Basic Russia-Trump background coming in to G20 Highly anticipated was Trump's first meeting as president with Vladimit Putin. Media outlets have stated it is their first meeting together, but more precisely it is definitely the first time Trump has met Putin as US president; it is not exactly clear that they have never met. Donald Trump has given many different accounts of his relationship with Putin, saying "I have never met Putin" on one occassion and "I don't think I've ever met him" on another. He has claimed adamently he "has no relationship with Putin", and, in 2013, when asked if he has a relationship with Putin said "I do have a relationship". On one occassion he said "I was in Moscow recently, and I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin". There are currently several ongoing investiations into Donald Trump and his administration's links to Russia. The Justice Department has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counselor to lead the DOJ investigation into "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump." Mueller is also leading a criminal investigation to see if obstruction of justice, witness intimidation or perjury were committed by anyone involved in his other investigation, including President Trump. The Senate And House Intelligence Committee is also investigating Trump's administration's connection to Russia. So is the Senate Judiciary and also the House Oversight and Government Reform Committees are also investigating Trump and Russia.

Trump abandons Western countries at G20, sidles up to Putin

<p>The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s visit to Israel is historic in many ways. The fact that PM Modi is the first Indian &nbsp;prime minister to visit Israel in the last 70 years, foreign policy experts interpret this as a signal that both the national governments are willing to write a new chapter by overriding any &lsquo;historical baggage&rsquo;. Evidently, the dynamics of the bilateral relationship will be premised on&nbsp;further deepening the existing ties in matters related to defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management. At outset, it was made clear&nbsp;by Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel that Indian talents and Israel technologies should write the future of growth. India not only needs Israel technologies for its&nbsp;&quot;Make in India&quot; campaign but also to promote&nbsp;Digital India and reinventing Agri(culture-digital) India.</p>

<p>Israel&#39;s&nbsp;technological prowess is&nbsp;so crucial to India because both countries have geopolitical and domestic imperatives, a <a href="https://thewire.in/88698/emergence-reluctant-digital-power/">reluctant digital power</a> (India) needs a strong support from a <a href="http://www.barlaw.co.il/blog/from-a-start-up-nation-to-a-cyber-security-nation-the-evolution-of-israel-as-a-security-leader/">cyber power</a> (Israel) to edge out any cyber geopolitics in South Asia. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

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<h5>India not only needs Israel technologies in Make in India but also in Digital India and reinventing Agri(culture-digital) India.</h5>
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<p><strong>Cyber Camaraderie</strong>&nbsp;</p>

<p>While addressing the Cyber Week 2017, the seventh edition of an annual cybersecurity conference held at Tel Aviv University in Israel on&nbsp;June, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that cyber security is one of the key areas of cooperation to be discussed with PM Narendra Modi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Indo-Israel cyber camaraderie is need of the hour, particularly because Israel has world&rsquo;s largest cyber security industry after the US.&nbsp;Many Israeli companies having a growing&nbsp;role in cyber defence technology, research and development, encryption and data protection. After China, India has the world&rsquo;s largest number of Internet users, but the digital ecosystem available to Indian users is prone to attack, and that makes Digital India initiative vulnerable.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Israel has world&rsquo;s largest cyber security industry and many Israeli companies having a protuberant role in cyber defence technology, research and development, encryption and data protection.</h5>
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<p><strong>Bishop to Bishop 1</strong>- India has ranked <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-ranks-4th-in-online-security-breaches/articleshow/58408905.cms">4th</a> in cyber security breaches and <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/money/interview-india-ranked-fifth-in-ransomware-attacks-in-2016-pankit-desai-2438345">5th</a> in ransomware attacks. Statistically speaking,&nbsp;the costs of cyber threats are spurring up very quickly. For instance, the insane cyber attack on <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/05/insane-81m-bangladesh-bank-heist-heres-know/">Bangladesh Bank</a> costs $ 81 million and&nbsp;in 2014, the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sony-cybersecurity-costs-idUSKBN0JN2L020141209">cyber attack on Sony</a> studio was $100 million.&nbsp;More recently, the outbreak of WannaCry ransomware attack cost the world&nbsp;$4 billion. Cyber frauds carried out&nbsp;in India was worth <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/cyber-frauds-cost-india-4-billion/article5261594.ece">$4 billion in 2013</a>&nbsp;alone, and there is nothing to root it out yet.</p>

<p>An estimation shows that cybercrime <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/cybercrime-costs-the-global-economy-450-billion-ceo.html">costs</a> the global economy $450 billion in 2016. Another estimation by the Microsoft underlines that economic loss of cyber crime would reach $3 trillion by 2020, which is just a tip of the larger iceberg. In foreseeable future, it might hold a significant risk to businesses, governments and societies. How should India and Israel address this issue?&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>As per a report, the Israel Defense Forces has 8200, elite cyber offensive and defensive army to address potential cyber threats.</h5>
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<p><strong>Bishop to Bishop 2</strong> -So far, Israel has been able to subdue&nbsp;its external threats by expanding it&rsquo;s both territorial and cyber capabilities. As per a report, the Israel Defense Forces has 8200 members strong elite cyber offensive and defensive army to address potential cyber threats. On the contrary, due to thin interests in building cyber offensive and defensive mechanisms, India has become a target of cyber attacks mostly generated from <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/cyber-attacks-on-india-mostly-from-china-pakistan-prasad-725195">China and Pakistan</a>. How Israel could help India in making so?</p>

<p><strong>Bishop to Bishop 3</strong> &ndash; India needs to move out from the present reluctant position to become a truly digital power. Both India and Israel need to expand their cyber diplomacy and digital economy with likeminded countries to address cyber issues in global level.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Lack of cyber attack attribution is a key factor to the hasty rise of cyber threats and both nations need&nbsp;to consider this while addressing the cyber security issues in a bigger picture.</p>

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<h5>Indo-Israel cyber agreements would promulgate upon win-win theory and it can always be substantiated by the existing sheer trust and strong commitments.</h5>
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<p>To counter China and Pakistan both online and offline, PM Modi and his Israeli counterpart should underline strong commitment during this trip. Major areas to look into are: border surveillance preferably by UAVs to avoid human fatalities and cooperation in developing India&#39;s cyber army to protect India&rsquo;s internet ecosystem from external penetrations. There is also a need for bilateral commitments to counter cyber terrorism globally.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the post demonetisation period, India has eased towards building a&nbsp;digital economy but to become a sustainable cyber player, it needs to bring in an infrastructure ecosystem, capacity building, digital funding, and technology transfer to substantiate domestic projects. Indo-Israel cyber agreements will be&nbsp;promulgated upon a win-win theory, and it can always be substantiated by the existing &nbsp;trust and strong commitments.</p>


To counter China and Pakistan both online and offline, Prime Ministers Modi and Netanyahu should underline strong commitment during this trip

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel is historic in many ways. The fact that PM Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in the last 70 years, foreign policy experts interpret this as a signal that both the national governments are willing to write a new chapter by overriding any ‘historical baggage’. Evidently, the dynamics of the bilateral relationship will be premised on further deepening the existing ties in matters related to defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management. At outset, it was made clear by Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel that Indian talents and Israel technologies should write the future of growth. India not only needs Israel technologies for its "Make in India" campaign but also to promote Digital India and reinventing Agri(culture-digital) India. Israel's technological prowess is so crucial to India because both countries have geopolitical and domestic imperatives, a reluctant digital power (India) needs a strong support from a cyber power (Israel) to edge out any cyber geopolitics in South Asia. India not only needs Israel technologies in Make in India but also in Digital India and reinventing Agri(culture-digital) India. × Cyber Camaraderie While addressing the Cyber Week 2017, the seventh edition of an annual cybersecurity conference held at Tel Aviv University in Israel on June, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that cyber security is one of the key areas of cooperation to be discussed with PM Narendra Modi. Indo-Israel cyber camaraderie is need of the hour, particularly because Israel has world’s largest cyber security industry after the US. Many Israeli companies having a growing role in cyber defence technology, research and development, encryption and data protection. After China, India has the world’s largest number of Internet users, but the digital ecosystem available to Indian users is prone to attack, and that makes Digital India initiative vulnerable. Israel has world’s largest cyber security industry and many Israeli companies having a protuberant role in cyber defence technology, research and development, encryption and data protection. × Bishop to Bishop 1- India has ranked 4th in cyber security breaches and 5th in ransomware attacks. Statistically speaking, the costs of cyber threats are spurring up very quickly. For instance, the insane cyber attack on Bangladesh Bank costs $ 81 million and in 2014, the cyber attack on Sony studio was $100 million. More recently, the outbreak of WannaCry ransomware attack cost the world $4 billion. Cyber frauds carried out in India was worth $4 billion in 2013 alone, and there is nothing to root it out yet. An estimation shows that cybercrime costs the global economy $450 billion in 2016. Another estimation by the Microsoft underlines that economic loss of cyber crime would reach $3 trillion by 2020, which is just a tip of the larger iceberg. In foreseeable future, it might hold a significant risk to businesses, governments and societies. How should India and Israel address this issue? As per a report, the Israel Defense Forces has 8200, elite cyber offensive and defensive army to address potential cyber threats. × Bishop to Bishop 2 -So far, Israel has been able to subdue its external threats by expanding it’s both territorial and cyber capabilities. As per a report, the Israel Defense Forces has 8200 members strong elite cyber offensive and defensive army to address potential cyber threats. On the contrary, due to thin interests in building cyber offensive and defensive mechanisms, India has become a target of cyber attacks mostly generated from China and Pakistan. How Israel could help India in making so? Bishop to Bishop 3 – India needs to move out from the present reluctant position to become a truly digital power. Both India and Israel need to expand their cyber diplomacy and digital economy with likeminded countries to address cyber issues in global level. Lack of cyber attack attribution is a key factor to the hasty rise of cyber threats and both nations need to consider this while addressing the cyber security issues in a bigger picture. Indo-Israel cyber agreements would promulgate upon win-win theory and it can always be substantiated by the existing sheer trust and strong commitments. × To counter China and Pakistan both online and offline, PM Modi and his Israeli counterpart should underline strong commitment during this trip. Major areas to look into are: border surveillance preferably by UAVs to avoid human fatalities and cooperation in developing India's cyber army to protect India’s internet ecosystem from external penetrations. There is also a need for bilateral commitments to counter cyber terrorism globally. In the post demonetisation period, India has eased towards building a digital economy but to become a sustainable cyber player, it needs to bring in an infrastructure ecosystem, capacity building, digital funding, and technology transfer to substantiate domestic projects. Indo-Israel cyber agreements will be promulgated upon a win-win theory, and it can always be substantiated by the existing trust and strong commitments.

Why Israel needs to help India build a cyber army

<p>Apple is working with Cisco Systems to help businesses that primarily use gear from both companies to get a discount on cyber-security insurance premiums, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said.</p>

<p>Sharing a stage with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins at a Cisco event in Las Vegas, Cook said the combination of gear from the two companies was more secure than the use of competing technology such as the Android mobile operating system made by Alphabet Google.</p>

<p>&quot;The thinking we share here is that if your enterprise or company is using Cisco and Apple, the combination of these should make that (cyber-security) insurance cost significantly less,&quot; Cook said. &quot;This is something we&#39;re going to spend some energy on. You should reap that benefit.&#39;</p>

<p>Cisco gave few details about the effort saying in a company blog post that the two companies were collaborating with insurance industry heavyweights to offer more robust policies to the customers. It said it will create systems that allow for continuous security monitoring and for insurers to double-check that the systems are set up as intended.</p>

<p>Cisco, a networking company that has increasingly moved into cyber security in recent years, highlighted several other joint efforts with Apple. It rolled out a new security app for iPhones meant to protect against so-called phishing attacks, an email with a malicious link sent under the guise of being legitimate.</p>

<p>Cook also said the &#39;fast lane&#39; that Cisco had created in 2015 to speed up Internet connections for iPhones on Cisco routers and switches has been expanded to Mac computers.</p>

<p>Long known for its consumer devices, Apple has embraced business users in recent years, adding additional security features to its iPhones and iPads. In 2015, Cook said Apple was generating at least $25 billion a year in revenue selling to businesses.</p>

<p>Apple has also undertaken joint efforts with enterprise software firms IBM and SAP to encourage developers to write business apps for its mobile devices.</p>


The two companies are collaborating with insurance industry heavyweights to offer more robust policies to customers

Apple is working with Cisco Systems to help businesses that primarily use gear from both companies to get a discount on cyber-security insurance premiums, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said. Sharing a stage with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins at a Cisco event in Las Vegas, Cook said the combination of gear from the two companies was more secure than the use of competing technology such as the Android mobile operating system made by Alphabet Google. "The thinking we share here is that if your enterprise or company is using Cisco and Apple, the combination of these should make that (cyber-security) insurance cost significantly less," Cook said. "This is something we're going to spend some energy on. You should reap that benefit.' Cisco gave few details about the effort saying in a company blog post that the two companies were collaborating with insurance industry heavyweights to offer more robust policies to the customers. It said it will create systems that allow for continuous security monitoring and for insurers to double-check that the systems are set up as intended. Cisco, a networking company that has increasingly moved into cyber security in recent years, highlighted several other joint efforts with Apple. It rolled out a new security app for iPhones meant to protect against so-called phishing attacks, an email with a malicious link sent under the guise of being legitimate. Cook also said the 'fast lane' that Cisco had created in 2015 to speed up Internet connections for iPhones on Cisco routers and switches has been expanded to Mac computers. Long known for its consumer devices, Apple has embraced business users in recent years, adding additional security features to its iPhones and iPads. In 2015, Cook said Apple was generating at least $25 billion a year in revenue selling to businesses. Apple has also undertaken joint efforts with enterprise software firms IBM and SAP to encourage developers to write business apps for its mobile devices.

Apple, Cisco team up to push for cyber security insurance discounts

<p>Kanishk Sajnani did not receive so much as a thank you from a major Indian airline when he contacted them with alarming news - he had hacked their website and could book flights anywhere in the world for free.</p>

<p>It was a familiar tale for India&#39;s army of &quot;ethical hackers&quot;, who earn millions protecting foreign corporations and global tech giants from cyber attacks but are largely ignored at home, their skills and altruism misunderstood or distrusted.</p>

<p>India produces more ethical hackers -&nbsp;those who break into computer networks to expose, rather than exploit, weaknesses -&nbsp;than anywhere else in the world.</p>

<p>The latest data from BugCrowd, a global hacking network, showed Indians raked in the most &quot;bug bounties&quot; -&nbsp;rewards for red-flagging security loopholes.</p>

<p>Facebook, which has long tapped hacker talent, paid more to Indian researchers in the first half of 2016 than any other researchers.</p>

<p>Indians outnumbered all other bug hunters on HackerOne, another registry of around 100,000 hackers. One anonymous Indian hacker - &quot;Geekboy&quot; -&nbsp;has found more than 700 vulnerabilities for companies like Yahoo, Uber and Rockstar Games.</p>

<p>Most are young &quot;techies&quot; -&nbsp;software engineers swelling the ranks of India&#39;s $154-billion IT outsourcing sector whose skill set makes them uniquely gifted at cracking cyber systems.</p>

<p>&quot;People who build software in many cases also understand how it can be broken,&quot; HackerOne co-founder Michiel Prins told AFP by email.</p>

<p>But while technology behemoths and multinationals are increasingly reliant on this world-class hacking talent, just a handful of Indian firms run bug bounty programs.</p>

<p>Information volunteered by these cyber samaritans is often treated with indifference or suspicion, hackers and tech industry observers told AFP.</p>

<p>Anand Prakash, a 23-year-old security engineer who has earned $350,000 in bug bounties, said Facebook replied almost immediately when he notified them of a glitch allowing him to post from anyone&#39;s account.</p>

<p>&quot;But here in India, the email is ignored most of the time,&quot; Prakash told AFP from Bangalore where he runs his own cyber security firm AppSecure India.</p>

<p>&quot;I have experienced situations many times where I have a threatening email from a legal team saying &#39;What are you doing hacking into our site?&#39;&quot;</p>

<p>Sajnani, who has hacked around a dozen Indian companies, said he was once offered a reward by a company that dropped off the radar once the bugs were fixed.</p>

<p>&quot;Not getting properly acknowledged, or companies not showing any gratitude after you tried to help them, that is very annoying,&quot; the 21-year-old told AFP from Ahmedabad, where he hunts for software glitches in between his computer engineering studies.</p>

<p><strong>Attitudes changing</strong></p>

<p>An unwillingness to engage its homegrown hackers has backfired spectacularly for a number of Indian startups, forcing a long-overdue rethink of attitudes toward cyber security.</p>

<p>In 2015, Uber-rival Ola launched what it called a &quot;first of its kind&quot; bounty program in India after hackers repeatedly exposed vulnerabilities in the hugely-popular app.</p>

<p>This month Zomato, a food and restaurant guide operating in 23 countries, suffered an embarrassing breach when a hacker stole 17 million user records from its supposedly secure database.</p>

<p>The hacker &quot;nclay&quot; threatened to sell the information unless Zomato, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, offered bug hunters more than just certificates of appreciation for their honesty.</p>

<p>&quot;If they were paying money to the good guys, maybe &#39;nclay&#39; would have reported the vulnerability and made the money the right way,&quot; Waqas Amir, founder of cyber security website HackRead, told AFP by email.</p>

<p>The incident was especially galling for Prakash. He had hacked Zomato&#39;s database just two years earlier, and said if they listened to him then &quot;they would never have been breached in 2017.&quot;</p>

<p>In a mea culpa rare for an Indian tech company, Zomato agreed to launch a &quot;healthy&quot; bounty program and encourage other firms to work with ethical hackers.</p>

<p>&quot;We should have taken this more seriously earlier,&quot; a Zomato spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP.</p>

<p>The Zomato hack, and panic surrounding this month&#39;s global WannaCry cyber attack, comes as the Indian government aggressively denies suggestions its massive biometric identification program is susceptible to leaks.</p>

<p>The government has staunchly defended its &quot;Aadhaar&quot; program, which stores the fingerprints and iris scans of more than one billion Indians on a national database, and has accused those who have raised concerns of illegal hacking.</p>

<p>Prakash said it was vital the government embrace its own through a programme like the &quot;Hack the Pentagon&quot; initiative, which last year saw 1,400 security engineers invited to poke holes in the US Department of Defense&#39;s cyber fortifications.</p>

<p>&quot;The Indian government definitely needs a bounty programme to make their system more secure,&quot; Prakash added.</p>

<p>(AFP)</p>


Indians rake in the most bug bounties for red-flagging security loopholes

Kanishk Sajnani did not receive so much as a thank you from a major Indian airline when he contacted them with alarming news - he had hacked their website and could book flights anywhere in the world for free. It was a familiar tale for India's army of "ethical hackers", who earn millions protecting foreign corporations and global tech giants from cyber attacks but are largely ignored at home, their skills and altruism misunderstood or distrusted. India produces more ethical hackers - those who break into computer networks to expose, rather than exploit, weaknesses - than anywhere else in the world. The latest data from BugCrowd, a global hacking network, showed Indians raked in the most "bug bounties" - rewards for red-flagging security loopholes. Facebook, which has long tapped hacker talent, paid more to Indian researchers in the first half of 2016 than any other researchers. Indians outnumbered all other bug hunters on HackerOne, another registry of around 100,000 hackers. One anonymous Indian hacker - "Geekboy" - has found more than 700 vulnerabilities for companies like Yahoo, Uber and Rockstar Games. Most are young "techies" - software engineers swelling the ranks of India's $154-billion IT outsourcing sector whose skill set makes them uniquely gifted at cracking cyber systems. "People who build software in many cases also understand how it can be broken," HackerOne co-founder Michiel Prins told AFP by email. But while technology behemoths and multinationals are increasingly reliant on this world-class hacking talent, just a handful of Indian firms run bug bounty programs. Information volunteered by these cyber samaritans is often treated with indifference or suspicion, hackers and tech industry observers told AFP. Anand Prakash, a 23-year-old security engineer who has earned $350,000 in bug bounties, said Facebook replied almost immediately when he notified them of a glitch allowing him to post from anyone's account. "But here in India, the email is ignored most of the time," Prakash told AFP from Bangalore where he runs his own cyber security firm AppSecure India. "I have experienced situations many times where I have a threatening email from a legal team saying 'What are you doing hacking into our site?'" Sajnani, who has hacked around a dozen Indian companies, said he was once offered a reward by a company that dropped off the radar once the bugs were fixed. "Not getting properly acknowledged, or companies not showing any gratitude after you tried to help them, that is very annoying," the 21-year-old told AFP from Ahmedabad, where he hunts for software glitches in between his computer engineering studies. Attitudes changing An unwillingness to engage its homegrown hackers has backfired spectacularly for a number of Indian startups, forcing a long-overdue rethink of attitudes toward cyber security. In 2015, Uber-rival Ola launched what it called a "first of its kind" bounty program in India after hackers repeatedly exposed vulnerabilities in the hugely-popular app. This month Zomato, a food and restaurant guide operating in 23 countries, suffered an embarrassing breach when a hacker stole 17 million user records from its supposedly secure database. The hacker "nclay" threatened to sell the information unless Zomato, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, offered bug hunters more than just certificates of appreciation for their honesty. "If they were paying money to the good guys, maybe 'nclay' would have reported the vulnerability and made the money the right way," Waqas Amir, founder of cyber security website HackRead, told AFP by email. The incident was especially galling for Prakash. He had hacked Zomato's database just two years earlier, and said if they listened to him then "they would never have been breached in 2017." In a mea culpa rare for an Indian tech company, Zomato agreed to launch a "healthy" bounty program and encourage other firms to work with ethical hackers. "We should have taken this more seriously earlier," a Zomato spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP. The Zomato hack, and panic surrounding this month's global WannaCry cyber attack, comes as the Indian government aggressively denies suggestions its massive biometric identification program is susceptible to leaks. The government has staunchly defended its "Aadhaar" program, which stores the fingerprints and iris scans of more than one billion Indians on a national database, and has accused those who have raised concerns of illegal hacking. Prakash said it was vital the government embrace its own through a programme like the "Hack the Pentagon" initiative, which last year saw 1,400 security engineers invited to poke holes in the US Department of Defense's cyber fortifications. "The Indian government definitely needs a bounty programme to make their system more secure," Prakash added. (AFP)

India's ethical hackers rewarded abroad, ignored at home

<p>China, battling increased threats from cyber-terrorism and hacking, will adopt a controversial law that mandates strict data surveillance and storage for firms working in the country, said the official <em>Xinhua </em>news agency.</p>

<p>The law, passed in November by the country&#39;s largely rubber-stamp parliament, bans online service providers from collecting and selling users&#39; personal information, and gives users the right to have their information deleted, in cases of abuse.</p>

<p>&quot;Those who violate the provisions and infringe on personal information will face hefty fines,&quot; the news agency said on Monday, without elaborating.</p>

<p>Reuters reported this month that overseas business groups were pushing Chinese regulators to delay implementation of the law, saying the rules would severely hurt activities.</p>

<p>Until now, China&#39;s data industry has had no overarching data protection framework, being governed instead by loosely defined laws.</p>

<p>However, overseas critics say the new law threatens to shut foreign technology companies out of sectors the country deems &quot;critical&quot;, and includes contentious requirements for security reviews and data stored on servers in China.</p>

<p>(Reuters)</p>


Overseas business groups have been pushing Chinese regulators to delay implementation of the law

China, battling increased threats from cyber-terrorism and hacking, will adopt a controversial law that mandates strict data surveillance and storage for firms working in the country, said the official Xinhua news agency. The law, passed in November by the country's largely rubber-stamp parliament, bans online service providers from collecting and selling users' personal information, and gives users the right to have their information deleted, in cases of abuse. "Those who violate the provisions and infringe on personal information will face hefty fines," the news agency said on Monday, without elaborating. Reuters reported this month that overseas business groups were pushing Chinese regulators to delay implementation of the law, saying the rules would severely hurt activities. Until now, China's data industry has had no overarching data protection framework, being governed instead by loosely defined laws. However, overseas critics say the new law threatens to shut foreign technology companies out of sectors the country deems "critical", and includes contentious requirements for security reviews and data stored on servers in China. (Reuters)

China to implement cyber security law

<p>For Kris Hagerman, chief executive of UK-based cyber security firm Sophos Group, the past week could have been bad. The WannaCry &quot;ransomware&quot; attack hobbled some of its hospital customers in Britain&#39;s National Health Service, forcing them to turn away ambulances and cancel surgeries.</p>

<p>The company quickly removed a boast on its website that &ldquo;The NHS is totally protected with Sophos.&rdquo; In many industries, that sort of stumble would likely hit a company&#39;s reputation hard.</p>

<p>Yet on Monday, three days after the global malware attack was first detected, Sophos stock jumped more than 7 per cent to set a record high and climbed further on Wednesday after the company raised its financial forecasts.</p>

<p>As for most other cyber security firms, highly publicized cyber attacks are good for business, even though experts say such attacks underscore the industry&#39;s failings.</p>

<p>&quot;We are making good progress and are doing a good job,&quot; Hagerman said in an interview this week. &quot;People ask &#39;How come you haven&rsquo;t solved the cyber crime problem?&#39; and it&#39;s a little like saying &#39;You human beings have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, how come you haven&#39;t solved the crime problem?&#39;&quot;</p>

<p>Hagerman pointed out that his company only claimed to protect 60 per cent of NHS affiliates and that other factors contributed to the disaster at the hospitals.</p>

<p>&quot;They have their own budgets. They have their own approach to IT generally and IT security,&rdquo; Hagerman said of individual hospitals, which pick their own operating systems, patching cycles and network setups. Microsoft had issued a patch in March for the flaw WannaCry exploited in Windows operating systems.</p>

<p>Yet Hagerman acknowledged that Sophos did not update its basic antivirus software to block WannaCry until hours after it hit customers.</p>

<p><strong>High stakes</strong></p>

<p>Security experts say hospitals, where the stakes are especially high, represent a case study in how legacy industries need to up their cyber security game.</p>

<p>&quot;We&#39;ve tolerated a pretty poor level of effectiveness, because so far the consequences of failure have been acceptable,&quot; said Josh Corman, a cyber security industry veteran now working on related issues at the Atlantic Council and a member of a healthcare security task force established by the US&nbsp;Congress.</p>

<p>&quot;We are going to see failure measured in loss of life and a hit to GDP, and people will be very surprised.&quot;</p>

<p>Some long-lived medical devices have more than a thousand vulnerabilities, Corman said, and perhaps 85 per cent of US&nbsp;medical institutions have no staff qualified for basic cyber security tasks such as patching software, monitoring threat advisories and separating networks from one another.</p>

<p>Increasingly serious cyber security problems are partly an inevitable consequence of the growing complexity of digital technology.</p>

<p>But there are other causes too, including a lack of accountability that stems from the wide range of technology handlers: computer software vendors, antivirus suppliers, in-house professionals, consultants and various regulators.</p>

<p>Ultimately, Corman said, hospitals need to hire solid cyber security people instead of another nurse or two.</p>

<p><strong>Good for business</strong></p>

<p>&quot;What&rsquo;s needed is punishment of the negligent,&quot; said Ross Anderson, a University of Cambridge pioneer in studying the economics of information security, referring to the hospitals that did not stop WannaCry.</p>

<p>&quot;This is not about technology. This is about people fouling up in ways people would get a pink slip for&rdquo; in less-insulated environments, he said, meaning they would lose their jobs.</p>

<p>For now, though, there are few signs of any revamp in large institutions&#39; approach to cyber security - and little incentive for contractors in the cyber security industry to change.</p>

<p>Sophos was not the only company whose stock rose on Monday, as the global scale of WannaCry became apparent. Shares of US-based FireEye&nbsp;and Qualys&nbsp;both rose more than 5 per cent.</p>

<p>But Sophos stood out, aided by higher expectations for a product the company introduced last year to fend off ransomware - so called because the authors of the malware demand a &#39;ransom&#39; to restore a user&#39;s infected computer - which worked at the hospitals that had installed it.</p>

<p>&quot;It&#39;s good news for our business,&quot; one Sophos employee, who asked not to be named, told Reuters this week. &quot;We were so inundated with people calling us.&quot;</p>

<p>(Reuters)</p>


Stocks of cyber security firms rise as the global scale of WannaCry becomes apparent

For Kris Hagerman, chief executive of UK-based cyber security firm Sophos Group, the past week could have been bad. The WannaCry "ransomware" attack hobbled some of its hospital customers in Britain's National Health Service, forcing them to turn away ambulances and cancel surgeries. The company quickly removed a boast on its website that “The NHS is totally protected with Sophos.” In many industries, that sort of stumble would likely hit a company's reputation hard. Yet on Monday, three days after the global malware attack was first detected, Sophos stock jumped more than 7 per cent to set a record high and climbed further on Wednesday after the company raised its financial forecasts. As for most other cyber security firms, highly publicized cyber attacks are good for business, even though experts say such attacks underscore the industry's failings. "We are making good progress and are doing a good job," Hagerman said in an interview this week. "People ask 'How come you haven’t solved the cyber crime problem?' and it's a little like saying 'You human beings have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, how come you haven't solved the crime problem?'" Hagerman pointed out that his company only claimed to protect 60 per cent of NHS affiliates and that other factors contributed to the disaster at the hospitals. "They have their own budgets. They have their own approach to IT generally and IT security,” Hagerman said of individual hospitals, which pick their own operating systems, patching cycles and network setups. Microsoft had issued a patch in March for the flaw WannaCry exploited in Windows operating systems. Yet Hagerman acknowledged that Sophos did not update its basic antivirus software to block WannaCry until hours after it hit customers. High stakes Security experts say hospitals, where the stakes are especially high, represent a case study in how legacy industries need to up their cyber security game. "We've tolerated a pretty poor level of effectiveness, because so far the consequences of failure have been acceptable," said Josh Corman, a cyber security industry veteran now working on related issues at the Atlantic Council and a member of a healthcare security task force established by the US Congress. "We are going to see failure measured in loss of life and a hit to GDP, and people will be very surprised." Some long-lived medical devices have more than a thousand vulnerabilities, Corman said, and perhaps 85 per cent of US medical institutions have no staff qualified for basic cyber security tasks such as patching software, monitoring threat advisories and separating networks from one another. Increasingly serious cyber security problems are partly an inevitable consequence of the growing complexity of digital technology. But there are other causes too, including a lack of accountability that stems from the wide range of technology handlers: computer software vendors, antivirus suppliers, in-house professionals, consultants and various regulators. Ultimately, Corman said, hospitals need to hire solid cyber security people instead of another nurse or two. Good for business "What’s needed is punishment of the negligent," said Ross Anderson, a University of Cambridge pioneer in studying the economics of information security, referring to the hospitals that did not stop WannaCry. "This is not about technology. This is about people fouling up in ways people would get a pink slip for” in less-insulated environments, he said, meaning they would lose their jobs. For now, though, there are few signs of any revamp in large institutions' approach to cyber security - and little incentive for contractors in the cyber security industry to change. Sophos was not the only company whose stock rose on Monday, as the global scale of WannaCry became apparent. Shares of US-based FireEye and Qualys both rose more than 5 per cent. But Sophos stood out, aided by higher expectations for a product the company introduced last year to fend off ransomware - so called because the authors of the malware demand a 'ransom' to restore a user's infected computer - which worked at the hospitals that had installed it. "It's good news for our business," one Sophos employee, who asked not to be named, told Reuters this week. "We were so inundated with people calling us." (Reuters)

WannaCry ransomware attack good business for cyber security firms

<p>A pleasant Saturday morning turned worrisome for thousands of corporates as well as government webpage developers when the news of cyber ransom attack spread. Individual users of internet, including me, were still anticipating that nothing will happen to us. It was still believed that the attackers were targeting the west and that too big data houses. We were all proved wrong within no time.</p>

<p>I first noticed the alert sign with a&nbsp;cyber attack in a Facebook post by Dr.Subhajit Basu, Associate Professor of Information Technology Law in School of Law, University of Leeds, who is also my senior in law college in the University of Calcutta, which mentioned about shutting down of the NHS websites due to some virus attacks.</p>

<p>He wrote &ldquo;There has been a huge &#39;CyberAttack&#39;&nbsp;on NHS. NHS services across England have been hit by IT failure, it seems to have happened because of large-scale cyber attack. Trusts and hospitals in London, Blackburn, Nottingham, Cumbria and Hertfordshire have been affected. It looks like a massive ransomware virus that has infected all computers on the NHS.&rdquo; It must be noticed that this post was made on 12th May, 2017, and not many&nbsp;felt the graveness of this attack until 13th morning, except those who were working in the cyber security sectors.</p>

<p>In no time, we got to see that not the nations, but continents were&nbsp;affected by this virus and in Asia, India was in the top of the worst hit list.</p>

<p><strong>What is ransom attack and how does it affect us? </strong></p>

<p>By now, almost all of us have come to know that this malware known as Wannacry ransom attack is actually a virus which is spreading through &ldquo;loaded hyperlink&rdquo; which can be sent through mail, webpage etc. One popular explanation has been&nbsp;that this loaded hyperlink is sent through mails from senders who&nbsp;the victim&nbsp;may not suspect as a malicious sender; further, once opened, it may first decrypt only to encrypt the files which may not be encrypted otherwise.</p>

<p>Plainly, Wannacry virus is another form of privacy infringing mechanism which unauthorisedly accesses the data. The uniqueness about this is, it does not stop with encrypting the files against the wish of the data owner; the attackers play the hi-tech criminal part by demanding a ransom that may be in the form of cryptocurrency Bitcoin.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>What is the form of attack? One may ask what sort of offence it may form? Attack on the computer? Attack on the computer networks? Damaging the files? Unauthorised access to the computer? Or something graver? In my opinion it indeed is a graver offence beyond simple attack on the computer. This may be explained as below:</p>

<p>In a way, it has proved a bunch of irresponsible hackers and hacking trainers&rsquo; thought &ldquo;hacking is fun&rdquo; at the cost of millions of people. It is like illegally breaking into&nbsp;a house and locking one&rsquo;s valuables only to extort. It is nothing but hacxtortion: hacking and extortion.</p>

<p><strong>Who should be careful about it and why? </strong></p>

<p>Not to forget that we have just started an era of demonetisation where our physical lockers, purses carry less currency and virtual purses &nbsp;carry more &nbsp;money. Individuals engaged in digital transaction must, therefore, be extremely careful to protect their data. Apart from ordinary individuals, I see several other categories of people and companies who may be possible targets of wannacry racket and this includes writers, academicians, scientists and also film production companies.&nbsp;All these&nbsp;sectors may not only earn their reputation, but also livelihood by way of intellectual properties, which is generally stored in the personal computers.</p>

<p>The other sector which must be extremely cautious to protect their data and computer is obviously the &quot;rights defenders&quot;, i.e., the lawyers and the courts as they may be seen as custodians of private data of many individuals, including the accused as well as the victims. I say this because already health sector may have been affected, resulting in partially suspending services to the patients.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Further, this has to be noted again that individuals not only store important data related to banking in their devices, we, especially women may also store something which we need to worry about: our private pictures/images. Professor K.Jaishankar and I have done extensive research (<em>Cyber Crimes Against Women In India,&nbsp;</em>Sage: 2016) on sextortion and revenge porn along with other sorts of cyber offences targeting women.</p>

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<p>But it must be noted that such offences, including sextortion may have been majorly interpersonal victimisation. In most cases, these may have been related to revenge porn or online grooming &nbsp;by unknown &ldquo;frenemies&rdquo; for the purpose of unethical profit making. It is well-known that&nbsp;nude or semi nude images of women get sold to adult entertainment sites.</p>

<p>Some of us may remember the biggest ever privacy infringement&nbsp;on&nbsp;film stars happened earlier this year when some hackers had stolen private pictures of film stars and posted it publicly. Imagine, if these women who are superstars suffer from&nbsp;such privacy infringement what happens to ordinary women who are being targeted by ransom attackers. &nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Possible solutions&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>By now, several write-ups have been published to recommend how to save your computers and data from the ransom attack and almost every suggestions indicate that payment of ransom is no answer to recover the&nbsp;encrypted data. Speaking from legal perspectives, we must understand that our Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) does provide some solutions if not fully; the attack may be regulated under S.43 (penalty, compensation for &nbsp;damage to computer, computer system) along with S.65 (tampering with computer source document) and 66 (computer related offences), along with provisions from Indian Penal Code, especially relating to extortion. Not to forget that our Information Technology Act has extra-territorial jurisdiction which may need to be executed in prosecuting cases.</p>

<p>However, there is definitely a loophole as there lacks a ratified treaty for cooperation in such cases.&nbsp;Moreover,&nbsp;our criminal justice administration, especially the police needs special training to nab the criminals, particularly when individuals are attacked.</p>

<p>But still then, we have come across a long way since the spreading of &ldquo;I love you&rdquo; virus which almost totally handicapped a nascent cyber-aware nation. A little awareness may make us more immune towards such attacks.</p>

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The ransom attack is like illegally entering a house and locking one?s valuables only to extort

A pleasant Saturday morning turned worrisome for thousands of corporates as well as government webpage developers when the news of cyber ransom attack spread. Individual users of internet, including me, were still anticipating that nothing will happen to us. It was still believed that the attackers were targeting the west and that too big data houses. We were all proved wrong within no time. I first noticed the alert sign with a cyber attack in a Facebook post by Dr.Subhajit Basu, Associate Professor of Information Technology Law in School of Law, University of Leeds, who is also my senior in law college in the University of Calcutta, which mentioned about shutting down of the NHS websites due to some virus attacks. He wrote “There has been a huge 'CyberAttack' on NHS. NHS services across England have been hit by IT failure, it seems to have happened because of large-scale cyber attack. Trusts and hospitals in London, Blackburn, Nottingham, Cumbria and Hertfordshire have been affected. It looks like a massive ransomware virus that has infected all computers on the NHS.” It must be noticed that this post was made on 12th May, 2017, and not many felt the graveness of this attack until 13th morning, except those who were working in the cyber security sectors. In no time, we got to see that not the nations, but continents were affected by this virus and in Asia, India was in the top of the worst hit list. What is ransom attack and how does it affect us? By now, almost all of us have come to know that this malware known as Wannacry ransom attack is actually a virus which is spreading through “loaded hyperlink” which can be sent through mail, webpage etc. One popular explanation has been that this loaded hyperlink is sent through mails from senders who the victim may not suspect as a malicious sender; further, once opened, it may first decrypt only to encrypt the files which may not be encrypted otherwise. Plainly, Wannacry virus is another form of privacy infringing mechanism which unauthorisedly accesses the data. The uniqueness about this is, it does not stop with encrypting the files against the wish of the data owner; the attackers play the hi-tech criminal part by demanding a ransom that may be in the form of cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The uniqueness about this is, it does not stop with encrypting the files against the wish of the data owner; the attackers play the hi-tech criminal part by demanding a ransom that may be in the form of cryptocurrency Bitcoin × What is the form of attack? One may ask what sort of offence it may form? Attack on the computer? Attack on the computer networks? Damaging the files? Unauthorised access to the computer? Or something graver? In my opinion it indeed is a graver offence beyond simple attack on the computer. This may be explained as below: In a way, it has proved a bunch of irresponsible hackers and hacking trainers’ thought “hacking is fun” at the cost of millions of people. It is like illegally breaking into a house and locking one’s valuables only to extort. It is nothing but hacxtortion: hacking and extortion. Who should be careful about it and why? Not to forget that we have just started an era of demonetisation where our physical lockers, purses carry less currency and virtual purses carry more money. Individuals engaged in digital transaction must, therefore, be extremely careful to protect their data. Apart from ordinary individuals, I see several other categories of people and companies who may be possible targets of wannacry racket and this includes writers, academicians, scientists and also film production companies. All these sectors may not only earn their reputation, but also livelihood by way of intellectual properties, which is generally stored in the personal computers. The other sector which must be extremely cautious to protect their data and computer is obviously the "rights defenders", i.e., the lawyers and the courts as they may be seen as custodians of private data of many individuals, including the accused as well as the victims. I say this because already health sector may have been affected, resulting in partially suspending services to the patients. Further, this has to be noted again that individuals not only store important data related to banking in their devices, we, especially women may also store something which we need to worry about: our private pictures/images. Professor K.Jaishankar and I have done extensive research (Cyber Crimes Against Women In India, Sage: 2016) on sextortion and revenge porn along with other sorts of cyber offences targeting women. Imagine, if these women who are superstars suffer from such privacy infringement what happens to ordinary women who are being targeted by ransom attackers × But it must be noted that such offences, including sextortion may have been majorly interpersonal victimisation. In most cases, these may have been related to revenge porn or online grooming by unknown “frenemies” for the purpose of unethical profit making. It is well-known that nude or semi nude images of women get sold to adult entertainment sites. Some of us may remember the biggest ever privacy infringement on film stars happened earlier this year when some hackers had stolen private pictures of film stars and posted it publicly. Imagine, if these women who are superstars suffer from such privacy infringement what happens to ordinary women who are being targeted by ransom attackers. Possible solutions By now, several write-ups have been published to recommend how to save your computers and data from the ransom attack and almost every suggestions indicate that payment of ransom is no answer to recover the encrypted data. Speaking from legal perspectives, we must understand that our Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) does provide some solutions if not fully; the attack may be regulated under S.43 (penalty, compensation for damage to computer, computer system) along with S.65 (tampering with computer source document) and 66 (computer related offences), along with provisions from Indian Penal Code, especially relating to extortion. Not to forget that our Information Technology Act has extra-territorial jurisdiction which may need to be executed in prosecuting cases. However, there is definitely a loophole as there lacks a ratified treaty for cooperation in such cases. Moreover, our criminal justice administration, especially the police needs special training to nab the criminals, particularly when individuals are attacked. But still then, we have come across a long way since the spreading of “I love you” virus which almost totally handicapped a nascent cyber-aware nation. A little awareness may make us more immune towards such attacks.

The ransom attack that may make the women cry

<p>China has urged Windows users to protect themselves against a new ransomware virus similar to the WannaCry bug that wreaked havoc worldwide last week.</p>

<p>&quot;UIWIX&quot; encrypts and renames files through a bug in the Windows operating system, China&#39;s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) warned in a public announcement Wednesday, telling users to install the latest Microsoft update.</p>

<p>The warning comes on the heels of the &quot;WannaCry&quot; cyberattack, which has hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide.</p>

<p>While no UIWIX infections have yet been detected in China, the virus has spread in other countries and prompted a security alert last week from the Danish cybersecurity company Heimdal Security.</p>

<p>&quot;UIWIX ransomware is picking up where the first WannaCry wave left off, without a kill switch domain and the same self-replicating abilities that enable it to spread fast,&quot; the firm said in a statement.</p>

<p>Heimdal cautioned that the new bug could be more powerful than WannaCry due to the absence of a kill switch domain that could contain the virus&#39;s distribution.</p>

<p>But other analysts have noted that UIWIX appears to be spreading at a much slower pace.</p>

<p>Global cybersecurity firm Proofpoint warned on Wednesday about another large-scale, stealthy cyberattack linked to WannaCry called Adylkuzz.</p>

<p>The extent of Wannacry&#39;s impact in China remains unclear.</p>

<p>On Sunday, Qihoo 360, one of China&#39;s leading suppliers of anti-virus software, said more than 29,000 institutions ranging from government offices to ATMs and hospitals had been &quot;infected&quot; by Wannacry, singling out universities as particularly hard-hit.</p>

<p>But the Education Ministry&#39;s China Education and Research Network denied that there had been widespread damage to computer systems, saying only 66 out of 1,600 Chinese universities were affected.</p>

<p>Sarah Larson, a politics and cybersecurity researcher at the University of New South Wales, told AFP that China&#39;s preemptive alert about UIWIX may indicate that WannaCry sent the government &quot;reeling.&quot;</p>

<p>Larson said China is particularly vulnerable to malicious code because the majority of the country&#39;s computer users are reliant on pirated software.</p>

<p>&quot;Until now the government has done little to encourage the use of legitimate software,&quot; she said.</p>

<p>&quot;This reluctance is largely caused by a type of cyber sovereignty directed at the dominance of US tech companies like Microsoft.&quot;</p>

<p>Severine Arsene, an Internet expert at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China, said the announcement, which noted the virus was &quot;detected abroad,&quot; is in line with China&#39;s current rhetoric around cybersecurity.</p>

<p>&quot;China has long claimed that they are a major victim of cyber attacks every year,&quot; Arsene told AFP, &quot;whereas they are essentially portrayed as a source of cyberattacks by foreign media.&quot;</p>

<p>The warning is intended &quot;to publicly show that they are taking responsibility to help maintain security and stability online&quot;.</p>

<p>The government will implement on June 1 a controversial cybersecurity bill tightening restrictions on online freedom of speech and imposing new rules on online service providers.</p>

<p>Fifty-four international trade groups signed a letter Monday calling on China to reconsider the law, arguing that it would create significant obstacles for foreign businesses.</p>

<p>(AFP)</p>


The warning comes on the heels of the 'WannaCry' cyberattack, which has hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide

China has urged Windows users to protect themselves against a new ransomware virus similar to the WannaCry bug that wreaked havoc worldwide last week. "UIWIX" encrypts and renames files through a bug in the Windows operating system, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) warned in a public announcement Wednesday, telling users to install the latest Microsoft update. The warning comes on the heels of the "WannaCry" cyberattack, which has hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. While no UIWIX infections have yet been detected in China, the virus has spread in other countries and prompted a security alert last week from the Danish cybersecurity company Heimdal Security. "UIWIX ransomware is picking up where the first WannaCry wave left off, without a kill switch domain and the same self-replicating abilities that enable it to spread fast," the firm said in a statement. Heimdal cautioned that the new bug could be more powerful than WannaCry due to the absence of a kill switch domain that could contain the virus's distribution. But other analysts have noted that UIWIX appears to be spreading at a much slower pace. Global cybersecurity firm Proofpoint warned on Wednesday about another large-scale, stealthy cyberattack linked to WannaCry called Adylkuzz. The extent of Wannacry's impact in China remains unclear. On Sunday, Qihoo 360, one of China's leading suppliers of anti-virus software, said more than 29,000 institutions ranging from government offices to ATMs and hospitals had been "infected" by Wannacry, singling out universities as particularly hard-hit. But the Education Ministry's China Education and Research Network denied that there had been widespread damage to computer systems, saying only 66 out of 1,600 Chinese universities were affected. Sarah Larson, a politics and cybersecurity researcher at the University of New South Wales, told AFP that China's preemptive alert about UIWIX may indicate that WannaCry sent the government "reeling." Larson said China is particularly vulnerable to malicious code because the majority of the country's computer users are reliant on pirated software. "Until now the government has done little to encourage the use of legitimate software," she said. "This reluctance is largely caused by a type of cyber sovereignty directed at the dominance of US tech companies like Microsoft." Severine Arsene, an Internet expert at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China, said the announcement, which noted the virus was "detected abroad," is in line with China's current rhetoric around cybersecurity. "China has long claimed that they are a major victim of cyber attacks every year," Arsene told AFP, "whereas they are essentially portrayed as a source of cyberattacks by foreign media." The warning is intended "to publicly show that they are taking responsibility to help maintain security and stability online". The government will implement on June 1 a controversial cybersecurity bill tightening restrictions on online freedom of speech and imposing new rules on online service providers. Fifty-four international trade groups signed a letter Monday calling on China to reconsider the law, arguing that it would create significant obstacles for foreign businesses. (AFP)

China warns Windows users of fresh ransomware virus attack

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