CYBER CRIME.

When a Managing Director of a popular ice cream manufacturing company in the city opened his computer to access his company's database, he saw a message that startled him. "Pay $1,000 to get your data back and do the payment in Bitcoins. The perplexed MD tried to refresh and restart the machine, but the message kept repeating. Most of the company data had been encrypted, cutting off his access to it. In short, the database had been hacked and the hackers were demanding money to decrypt the data.
The new trend of 'cyber extortion' has the cyber crime wing of the Hyderabad police on tenterhooks. "An incident of data being kept hostage was first reported a year ago. At that time, we did not take it seriously. But when another victim came with a similar complaint in July, 2015, we realised that it's a new modus operandi", Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crimes) B. Anuradha told to the Press. "The victims could not access their data as it was controlled by the hackers", she explained. 
It was found that hackers were penetrating the weak security systems of several companies and demanding payment in Bitcoins, which the police are now terming as the hawala system of cyber space. Also in the recesses of the world wide web are several rogue websites that are putting up for sale the confidential information belonging to individuals. The information sold can range from email IDs to Aadhaar and bank account numbers.
"The personal information of people is getting leaked by unscrupulous employees of banks, who are approached unofficially by those looking for prospective customers. Data sharing is invaluable for improving businesses. But in several cases, the information is put up for sale for a few lakhs of rupees and is bought by organised gangs indulging in various kinds of frauds", a cyber police officer said.
By feeding the data into the easily-available 'brute force' software tools, fraudsters generate various possible passwords against an email id or bank accounts in under a minute. Once the accounts are hacked, financial fraud like illegal money transfer is readily done. One of the most common frauds being committed by hackers is to misguide business partners by sending emails from similar looking email IDs and asking them to transfer money to new accounts.
"Corporates and individuals should always maintain upgraded operating systems, firewalls and advanced anti-virus softwares to protect data from intrusion. One should avoid using unlicensed, pirated, free anti-virus tools available on the web, since many of them are not fool-proof. Corporates should have a periodic cyber audit to avoid data hacking. Never open unsolicited mails or invites on social media", Joint Commissioner pf Police (CCS), T. Prabhkar Rao told the Press.
Victims Need To Lodge Plaints Within 24 Hours: Only around five percent of several Crores of rupees siphoned off by on-line fraudsters every year in the twin cities  are recovered, experts said, while underlining the importance of making complaints fast. Central Crime Station (CCS) officials said that in most cases, money can be recovered only when the victims report the incident in less than 24 hours. Any further delay will make matters difficult as the money crosses Indian shores very quickly. 
"Victims of online fraud should complain to the police as early as possible, which means the moment money gets deducted from the bank account. In any online banking transaction, the gateway clearance takes at least 24 hours. So, if victims approach the police without wasting time, we can freeze the money and there are 90 percent chances of recovery", Joint Commissioner of Police (CCS) T. Prabhakar Rao told the media.
According to the police, lack of foolproof system in using ID cards such as AAdhar, Voter ID, etc. is compounding the problem. Criminals obtain these IDs illegally and use it to open bank accounts. Most banks do not bother with background verification or check whether the account holder resides in that address or not. Thus, when investigators pull out accounts where money gets illegally transferred, they often reach a dead end. International gangs sometimes are also in connivance with locals who help them use accounts for the initial transfer. From these accounts, the money reaches international accounts.
Reported Cyber Crime Cases. 
Crime                                                            2012 2013 2014 2015
1). Creating fake profiles on social media.     4       16    104   49
2). Abusive/Threatening SMSs, email &
     calls, stalking.                                           18      45     106  58
3). Pornography.                                              -         1       -       0
4). Matrimonial Cheating.                               1        2        1      4
5). Blackmailing.                                             -         1        4      3
6). Job/Visa Fraud.                                           1       21      27    17
7). MLM Fraud.                                               -         2        1      0
8). Lottery/Nigerian Fraud.                              3        7       16     8
9). Hacking.                                                      1        -        10     7
10). ATM/Debit/Credit Card/ Net Banking
       Frauds.                                                       6       29       32    35
11). Loan Fraud.                                               -         -          -       7
12). Identity Theft/Data Theft.                         -         1         5      4
13). Online Fraud.                                            -         5         12    15
14). Communal Posts.                                      5       10         6      6
15). Movie uploads (Copyright violation).      3         -          1      2
16). Others                                                       5        27        67    25
TOTAL                                                           48      167      392  240
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