Hyderabad, India – August 21, 2013
Six ethical hackers from the city will represent India at the Global CyberLympics Hacking Championship to be held in Atlanta, USA, next month as part of a global search to identify experts, who can help strengthen security systems of countries.
CyberLympics is an international ethical hacking, computer forensics and computer network defense competition which started in 2010. This is the first time that a team from India has qualified to compete with the world’s best.
The need to develop stronger anti-hacking systems came to the fore recently after ‘cyber spy’ Edward Snowden’s disclosures of USA’s electronic surveillance of the world. China and USA have been in a state of cyber war for long, with the latter claiming to be a victim of China’s cyber attacks. India too has bore the brunt with allegations of Chinese spy agencies hacking into India’s defense and internal security systems on a regular basis.
The team from Hyderabad named Null, was selected to compete at the global pre-qualifiers after they defeated 182 teams from the continent including 46 other teams from India.
“Cyber security is mandatory at every level, whether you are a student or an organization. The moment we are connected to the internet, our identities become virtual and vulnerable,” said Hari V, ethical hacker and part of Null.
Ethical hacking or intrusion testing involves breaking into a system to find loopholes and subsequently strengthen the system. Most multinationals have their own certified ethical hackers to ensure their company systems are free from any sort of cyber attacks or security breaches.
As the presence of internet increases in daily life, confidential information stands to be misused, most often to be used for siphoning of money and harassment.
In Andhra Pradesh, cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common with the state having recorded a whopping 429 cyber crimes in 2012 under the IT Act, as recorded by the National Crime Records Bureau. The state has also recorded around 23% growth in cyber crimes over the past two years.
Cyber crime police personnel in the city said over the past few months cyber crooks siphoned off lakhs of rupees from unwitting customers by stealthily getting their debit card details while they withdrew cash from ATM machines. Further, it was found that these debit cards were being used to purchase expensive electronics and other goods on online shopping websites.
“With easy access to cyber cafes and Wi-Fi, information is readily available via emails, chats etc. For this, security knowledge to strengthen systems is required by anyone who can access the internet via any medium such as phone or laptop,” Hari V said. “Ethical hacking is very essential if information and identities have to be guarded. The best defense mechanism is therefore to think like a thief and then go one step ahead,” he said.
Full story available at The Times of India.