Relevance: GS-3: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life, Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology, Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Key Phrases: cyberwarfare, Distributed Denial Of Service, ransomware. Spyware, cyberattacks, intellectual property, Cyber laws, Information Technology
Context
- Alongside the missiles and bombs slamming down in Ukraine, the country has also been hit by a wave of cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure companies. The timing and scale of the attacks point towards hackers working at the behest of Russia.
Background
- Ukraine has been one of the primary targets of Russia since 2020. The recent spate of attacks started in mid-January and knocked out websites of the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of education.
- The attacks have intensified in the last few weeks and now, banks in Ukraine are being targeted. Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation said this week that more government websites and a number of banks have been hit by another mass distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks this week. DDoS attacks disrupt online services by overwhelming websites with more traffic than their server can handle.
What is cyberwarfare?
- Cyberwarfare has emerged as a new form of retaliation or passive aggression deployed by nations that do not want to go to actual war but want to send a tough message to their opponents.
- In June 2020, security experts from Cyfirma uncovered a conspiracy by Gothic Panda and Stone Panda, two China-based hacker groups, to target media and critical infra companies in India with large-scale attacks amid the border stand-off between India and China in Ladakh. For many countries, cyberwarfare is a never-ending battle as it allows them to constantly harass and weaken geopolitical rivals.
Some Important Terminologies
- Distributed Denial Of Service(DDoS)
- An acronym that stands for Distributed denial of service -a form of cyber attack. This attack aims to make a service such as a website unusable by “flooding” it with malicious traffic or data from multiple sources.
- Ransomware.
- Ransomware is a form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption.For example Wannacry ransomware.
- Trojan horse
- In computing, a Trojan horse is any malware that misleads users of its true intent. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek story of the deceptive Trojan Horse that led to the fall of the city of Troy.
- Worm
- A piece of malware that can replicate itself in order to spread the infection to other connected computers.
- Bot/Botnet
- A type of software application or script that performs tasks on command, allowing an attacker to take complete control remotely of an affected computer. A collection of these infected computers is known as a “botnet” and is controlled by the hacker or “bot-herder”.
- Spyware
- A type of malware that functions by spying on user activity without their knowledge. The capabilities include activity monitoring, collecting keystrokes, data harvesting etc.
- Phishing or Spear Phishing
- A technique used by hackers to obtain sensitive information. For example, using hand-crafted email messages designed to trick people into divulging personal or confidential data such as passwords and bank account information.
Which companies are targeted and why?
- State-backed cyberattacks are usually carried out to steal state secrets, trade deals and weapons blueprint, or target large multinationals to steal their intellectual property (IP) and use it to build local industry. Cryptos are also on the radar now.
- North Korean hackers reportedly stole cryptos worth $400 million in 2021. However, when states launch cyberattacks on other states as a result of worsening of geopolitical relations, the target is usually critical infrastructure firms to disrupt economic activity.
How often is India targeted?
- Such cyberattacks rose 100% between 2017 and 2021, according to a global study by Hewlett-Packard and the University of Surrey.
- In 2019, the administrative network of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was hit by a malware attack by North Korea-backed Lazarus Group.
- China-backed hackers were believed to be behind a power outage in Mumbai in 2020.
- According to Black Lotus Labs, Pakistan-based hackers targeted power firms and one government organization in India in early 2021 using Remote Access Trojans.
Cyber laws in India
- In India, cyber laws are contained in the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") which came into force on October 17, 2000. The main purpose of the Act is to provide legal recognition to electronic commerce and to facilitate filing of electronic records with the Government.
- Section 43 and 66 of the IT Act punishes a person committing data theft, transmitting virus into a system, hacking, destroying data, or denying access to the network to an authorized person with maximum imprisonment up to 3 years or a fine of rupees 5 lacs or both.
- At the same time data theft is also punishable under Section 378 and Section 424 of IPC with maximum imprisonment of 3 years or fine or both; and imprisonment of 2 years or fine or both respectively.
- Section 43A- Data protection at corporate level states if a body corporate is negligent in implementing reasonable security practices which causes wrongful loss or gain to any person, such body corporate shall be liable to pay damages to the affection person.
Which countries are behind state-backed cyberattacks?
- Russia is one of the top perpetrators of state-backed cyberattacks. According to an October 2021 report by Microsoft Corp., Russia accounted for 58% of state-backed attacks worldwide, followed by North Korea (23%), Iran (11%), and China (8%). North Korea is said to have built a cyber army of 7,000 hackers.
Way Forward
- Building deep technology in cyber is essential. New technologies such as artificial intelligence, Machine learning and quantum computing, also present new opportunities.
- Nations that are adequately prepared conceptually and technologically and have made rapid progress in artificial intelligence and quantum computing and the like will have a clear advantage over states that lag behind in these fields.
- Pressure also needs to be put on officials in the public domain, as also company boards, to carry out regular vulnerability assessments and create necessary awareness of the growing cyber threat. In the end, it might be appropriate to quote IBM Chairman, Arvind Krishna, that cybersecurity will be “the pressing issue of this decade” and that “value lies in the data and people are going to come after that data”.
Sources : Live Mint
Mains Questions:
Q. What is cyberwarfare? Is India ready to deal with threats of cyber attacks? (250 words).
