Recent reports by Amnesty International and Citizen Lab have evidenced the presence of large-scale phishing, and spyware hacking scams in the country. A joint report by Amnesty International and Citizen Lab has reported on how a Spyware software was used to spy on various Indian civil rights activists, journalists and lawyers. Another study by Citizen Lab brings to light the presence of a New Delhi-based hacking firm that has targeted advocacy groups, journalists, elected government officials, and multiple industries on six continents. More credence is lent to such claims, now that the MeitY’s own nodal agency, CERT-in has come out with an advisory warning people about an impending large-scale email phishing attack in major Indian cities. Amidst such blatant attacks against privacy, autonomy, and liberty, we wrote to the Committee on IT to take note of these important developments. We also wrote to the Hon’ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha making a case that moving legislative business to virtual platforms is not only urgent, but that the existing rules can be used to easily make this change.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/how-safe-is-your-internet-access/