Before & After Ceasefire: The Cyberattack Interim!
While The US president, Donald Trump takes credit for intervening between Indo-pak Ceasefire, India faces a new threat in a cyber bubble! The bilateral tensions post the Pahalgam attack, cross foothills of Himalayas in Madhya Pradesh and hit one of the civilian’s WhatsApp account with an open scam leaving him bankrupt by looting ₹2,00,000/-, calling it steganography
While the whole world is watching Pakistan, the recent predicaments have been more a sneaky attack after the conflict over breaking ceasefire. This could have easily added to the casualties, but given the Indian defense system outwitted Pakistan breaking the ceasefire protocol. And now the new approach on attacking the civilians with cyberattack scams has been the newfound joy of Pakistan; per the updates from Hindustan Times.
What is Steganography?
Think of steganography like hiding a secret note inside a regular birthday card. Someone looking at the card wouldn’t know the secret note is hidden inside. It’s about hiding the fact that a secret exists, not just making the secret message unreadable (which is what cryptography, or using a secret code, does).
You can do this with digital things like photos or audio, or even physical objects.
The WhatsApp Scam – Jabalpur Incident
“The enemy has now realised the consequences of removing “sindoor” from the forehead of our women” quoted by Narendra Modi, we still stand at an edge facing attacks in vivid forms from the radicals.
In a recent cyber fraud incident in Jabalpur, a resident was targeted through a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The caller requested assistance in identifying someone from a photo. After initially ignoring the persistent calls, the victim eventually opened the image. This action unfortunately allowed hackers to compromise his device. Within a short timeframe, around ₹2 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account.
5 Key Measures to Stay Safe From Cyber Crime
Here are some simple ways to stay safe from scams on WhatsApp:
• Step 1: Don’t open or download any pictures, videos, or links from numbers you don’t know.
• Step 2: Go into your WhatsApp settings and turn off auto-download.
• Step 3: Be careful opening files that look strange or are from unknown people.
• Step 4: If a call or message feels wrong or suspicious, just ignore it and block the number.
• Step 5: Tell your friends and family about these scams so they can also stay safe.
• Step 6: If you are targeted or lose money, report the incident on the official Cybercrime website – https://cybercrime.gov.in