There is news of cyber crimes, and mostly from the organised cyber crime mould so to say, appearing with alarming regularity in the media. All indications show this might not even be the tip of the iceberg. Police for times immemorial have worked on Modus Operandi classification of the criminals and lots of characteristics attached to each of these, and have been successful both in the prevention and detection of crime. The crimes have moved onto the cyber world and more so, the big booty ones, happening in a variety, way more variegated than the physical world.
The whole genre of crimes are still being termed as cyber crimes and all understood and investigated in the same manner. One port, one bug and one vulnerability can make all the difference, the deeper motive, intention and impact notwithstanding, we are yet to make any headway in the area of cyber crime modus operandi classification, leave aside training and gaining expertise in mitigating it. There are lots of dynamic changes in the Cyber M.O. game and it would need immense expertise to keep a track of it. Additionally, police are accustomed to operate locally, while here the stage and tools are global.
A recent case from Rajasthan would prove how even social engineering tactics can be extremely tricky, An international cyber gang has been busted in Rajasthan. As per the reports the credit goes to Mandwana police in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. In this major breakthrough, the gang which was operating out of a hotel in Fatehpur bypass was busted. The ring comprised 13 accused, including 3 women. Twenty laptops, 21 mobile phones and other electronic equipment were seized from the scene of crime. Social engineering was the name of the game in this case.
What was the MO? The accused posed as Microsoft employees, falsely claimed to be based in Washington, USA. They very cleverly contacted US citizens and put their services of resolving technical issues related to Microsoft on offer. “Under this pretext, they tricked victims into downloading remote access apps like the ‘Ultra Viewer’ onto their computers. This was the clincher. Once access was gained, stole personal data and committed cyber fraud. They used a wide range of tools like “iBeam,” Micro SIP,” “Turbo VPN,” and a host of others to transfer calls, hack systems, and access victims’ bank details.
ONLY SOCIAL ENGINEERING CAN THROW UP ENDLESS MOs OF CYBER CRIMES.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.