The beginning of cyber warfare?

A day after Union home secretary RK Singh said that the bulk of rumours of imminent attacks on northeastern people for the killings of Muslims in Assam originated from Pakistan, experts said that this could be Pune’s first brush with cyber warfare. They also fear that all this is an indication of a major form of subversive warfare in the future.

Cyber warfare refers to politically motivated hacking to conduct sabotage and espionage. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare although this analogy is controversial for both its accuracy and its political motivation.

Hackers and other individuals trained in software programming and exploiting the intricacies of computer networks are the primary executors of these attacks. These individuals often operate under the auspices and possibly the support of nation-state
actors.

Talking to DNA, security expert Niranjan Reddy, founder and chief technology officer of NetConclave Systems and a member of Indian Cyber Police, said, “Bullets are being replaced with bytes.”

“Cyberspace is the new warfront. As August 15 was approaching, Pakistani hacker attacked Indian sites,” he added.

Reddy said that underground hacking groups had carried out systematic attacks on 100 sites, especially government ones in the past.

Cyberspace, according to Reddy, is now the new battle ground for Kashmir as hackers are finding new means to demand emancipation of Kashmir by attacking various websites. These kinds of attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data and cripple financial systems among many other possibilities.

Rohit Srivastwa, expert on cyber security, told DNA, “The use of technology is used in spreading wrong messages. Earlier, people communicated inflammatory sentiments though emails and telephones. Now, the modus operandi has changed.”

“They are circulating video clips which can move rapidly and create panic among the people at large. This cannot be ceased by the government by just banning bulk SMSes or MMSes. Efforts should be taken to thwart such processes from the beginning,” he added.

Deepak Shikarpur, chairman of the IT Committee of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture, said, “Yes, it is the initial stage of cyber warfare and the issue is not just limited to Pune. It is a threat to the entire country.

“A decade ago, the national conference of Indian Science Congress took place in Pune. It was a big event as the prime minister and other dignitaries were part of it. Just before the event, its website was hacked and it took two days to restore the entire thing. Problem does not lie with technology alone. It’s the intention of those trying to misuse it,” he said.

“Our Information Technology Act is very strong, but we need to have a fast track court so that the conviction rate in such kind of cases increases,” he added.

“We cannot link the current issues with cyber warfare as they are more technical. However, whatever has taken place recently is a new way of utilising the social media. Earlier, brainwashing was done verbally. Now, people are playing with the technology,” an officer of the cyber cell said.