1. CMYK
Technology
Tech as Deadly Tool
To use or not to
use - that’s the
Cyber Question!
- Vicky Shah
A decade ago we
were afraid of
aircrafts causing
d a m a g e t o the security of state or friendly relations with foreign states.
infrastructure; today
we are afraid of Section 66 F: A. Whoever with intent to threaten the unity,
software and integrity, security or sovereignty of India or to strike terror in
technology that can the people or any section of the people by
be used to cause i. Denying or cause the denial of access to any person
damage. The World authorised to access computer resource; or
of Technology is
almost seven times ii. Attempts to penetrate(enter) or access a computer
faster than the real world. There is no doubt that resource without authorization or exceeding authorised
technology is a double edged sword. With good access; or
comes evil and the realty is that technology can be iii. Introducing or causing to introduce any computer
misused. The ease that technology provides makes contaminant, and by means of such conduct causes or is
it the best tool to be used by everyone. This is a likely to cause death or injuries to persons or damage to or
global issue and not only specific to India. destruction of property or disrupts or knowing that it is
Borderless incidents and activities have become likely to cause damage or disruption of supplies or services
difficult to regulate. essential to the life of the community or adversely affect the
According to the Anti-Terrorist Act - 1985 a terrorist critical information infrastructure specified under section
is “a person who indulges in wanton killing of 70, or
persons or in violence or in the disruption of B. knowingly or intentionally penetrates(enters) or
services or in damaging property or disrupting accesses a computer resource without authorisation or
means of communication essential to the exceeding authorised access, and by means of such
community with a view of putting the public in fear conduct obtains access to information, data or computer
affecting adversely the harmony between religions database that is restricted for reasons for the security of the
of different races, coercing or awing the State or foreign relations; or any restricted information,
government established by law or endangering the data or computer database, with reasons to believe that
sovereignty and integrity of India.” such information, data or computer database so obtained
According to Information Technology Act 2000 may be used to cause or likely to cause injury to the
(Amendments) 2008 Sub-section 66F there is interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the
punishment for cyber terrorism up to life security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states,
imprisonment. Cyber terrorism is defined as public order, decency or morality, or in relation to
causing denial of service, illegal access, contempt of Court, defamation or incitement to an
introducing a virus in any of the critical information offence, or to the advantage of any foreign nation, group
infrastructure of the country defined u/s 70 with the of individuals or otherwise, commits the offence of cyber
intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or terrorism.
sovereignty of India or strike terror in the people or There is an old truism - we cannot stop progress. The
any section of the people; or gaining illegal access truism has been used to justify investments in technologies
to data or database that is restricted for reasons of that could potentially not only harm people but wipe out
The Mumbai PROTECTOR March - April 2010 66
CMYK

2. CMYK
Technology
the entire planet. While we cannot stop the but GPS & networks
progress, we still should think carefully about
Recent Past Incidents where technology was misused:
the consequences of the technologies that we
invent.1 • 26/11: Global Positioning Satellite systems, Blackberry, CDs
with high resolution satellite images, Multiple cell phones with
“A computer keyboard can be a very useful
switchable SIM cards, Satellite phones
tool for the progress of humanity, but it can
also become a dangerous weapon capable • September 13, 2008: Indian Mujahideen militants used
of producing enormous economic damages unsecured WiFi system of a company in Chembur.
to the infrastructure of a state or company, • August 2008: A stray terror e-mail was traced to the Khalsa
and even against the integrity and the life of College, Matunga, Mumbai.
human beings” - Secretary General Cesar
Gaviria, OAS, Us2 • July 2008: E-mails were sent before and after the Ahmedabad
blasts. One was traced to Navi Mumbai and the other to an IP
Technology Platforms that have been address in Vadodara.
misused:
• May 2008: A terror e-mail was sent before the Jaipur blasts
• Social Networking Sites • Blogs • Email from a cyber cafe in Ghaziabad.
Services • SMS Services • VoIP • GPS and
GIS based Applications and Equipments • November 2007: Serial blasts in Lucknow, Varanasi, and
Faizabad courts in UP The terror e-mail was sent by Indian
.
Growing Challenges faced by India: Mujahideen (IM) from a cyber café in Laxmi Nagar, Delhi.
• Exponential growth of Internet and Mobile (Source: Internet and Newspapers)
Phone use
• 3G technology to be started very soon The Wi-Fi misuse could have easily prevented had the
• Interconnected business and government users/or their network administrators would have been
• E-governance growth has implications for alert and careful in securing the connections. It only takes
Information Security, Privacy and Cyber following steps to secure a Wi-Fi Connection:
Security • Change Default User names & Passwords
• Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Sales tax • Use Strong Passwords
networks connected • Enable Wireless Security (WPA2)
• Smart cards, UID being issued • Change your SSID
• Land records computerized • Do not show Broadcast SSID
• Police networks • Use MAC filtration
• Defense is no longer arms & ammunition • Use Static IP Address
• Use firewalls
• Use Latest Antivirus Pack
An interesting article has been written by Bruce Schiner about
“Terrorists May Use Google Earth, But Fear Is No Reason to Ban
It” he talks about how surprising it is to the people that their own
infrastructure can be used against them. And in the wake of
terrorist attacks or plots, there are fear-induced calls to ban,
disrupt or control that infrastructure. This isn't the only way our
information technology helps terrorists. We already know they
use websites to spread their message and possibly even to
recruit.3
Let's all stop and take a deep breath. By its very nature,
communications infrastructure is general. It can be used to plan
both legal and illegal activities, and it's generally impossible to
tell which is which. When we send and receive email, it looks
exactly the same as a terrorist doing the same thing. To the
mobile phone network, a call from one terrorist to another looks
exactly the same as a mobile phone call from one victim to
another. Any attempt to ban or limit infrastructure affects
The Mumbai PROTECTOR March - April 2010 67
CMYK

3. CMYK
Technology
everybody. Clearly the technologies that are being developed and
that would be developed in future can be used in a bad
Terrorist attacks are very rare, and it is almost always a
way by the "evil doers". But this is really nothing new,
bad trade-off to deny society the benefits of a
and as I said in the beginning of this article -
communications technology just because the bad guys
technological progress is unstoppable. So why do we
might use it too. Communications infrastructure is
need to think about these things? Simply because it is
especially valuable during a terrorist attack. Twitter was
always better to pause and think about the
the best way for people to get real-time information
implications, than blindly rush through things. Just
about the attacks in Mumbai. If twitter was banned
because something is cool does not mean that it is not
would it have been helpful for people to know about
dangerous. And beyond cool, we can be just a bit more
the updates? Information lessens fear and makes
careful. These are debatable and should be debated at
people safer.
the right level with right channel.
None of this is new. Criminals have used telephones
The Way Ahead:
and mobile phones since they were invented. Drug
smugglers, Bank robbers, terrorists, etc... everyone. • Government's positive and critical role in Proactive,
Society survives all of this because the good uses of Active and Reactive strategies.
infrastructure far outweigh the bad uses, even though • Protecting, Preventing, Mitigating and Investigating
the good uses are - by and large - small and pedestrian against all forms of incidents
and the bad uses are rare and spectacular. And while • Citizens alertness and cooperation to Law Protectors,
terrorism turns society's very infrastructure against Law Enforcement Agency, etc…
itself, we only harm ourselves by dismantling that • A statewide and overall national approach to
infrastructure in response - just as we would if we technology security is required for protecting citizens
banned technology because anti social elements used from the menace of Technology Abuse.
them too. • Government lacks expertises which are available
with Private Sector Direct capitalization of talent
"Where in the rule book does it say that terrorists are
available in the industry.
not allowed to use technology that is readily available
• Government playing instrumental role in raising
to almost anyone?" said Ajay Sahni, executive director
awareness about existing risks, creating state
of New Delhi's Institute for Conflict Management. "The
infrastructure to address technology security issues,
only people out of the loop seem to be the Indian
and create confidence for the citizens.
security forces. They are a generation behind in
• Government helping in preventing economy losses
understanding the technology that the terrorists
faced by community.
used."4
• Cert-In to play an important role in critical
Lastly, this is terrorism in the digital age. "Technology is infrastructure as they are appointed as nodal agency
advancing every day. We try to keep pace with it." as per the Information Technology Act 2000
Hasan Gafoor, IPS Mumbai CP during the 26/11 press Amendment 2008.
conference.
Credits, Reference and Acknowledgements:
1)Technology and Terrorism: Are we being too naive? -
Written by Alex Iskold / June 2, 2007
2)http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-
3159573/Confronting-cyber-crime.html
3) http://www.schneier.com/essay-258.html
4)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/ar
ticle/2008/12/02/AR2008120203519.html
Disclaimer:
This article is for non-profit, knowledge sharing, awareness and
educational purpose. Please feel free to write your view, criticism,
comments to the author at vicky@cybercrimes.in. Information
available in this article is not enforceable by law; however these are
my personal views about the topic which i feel should be shared. Any
errors, omissions, misstatements, and misunderstandings set forth in
the article are sincerely apologized. Relying on the contents will be
sole responsibility of the users. +
The Mumbai PROTECTOR March - April 2010 68
CMYK