#FactCheck -Viral video falsely linked to Operation Sindoor and India–Pakistan conflict claims

Introduction

With the increasing frequency and severity of cyber-attacks on critical sectors, the government of India has formulated the National Cyber Security Reference Framework (NCRF) 2023, aimed to address cybersecurity concerns in India. In today’s digital age, the security of critical sectors is paramount due to the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. Cybersecurity measures are crucial for protecting essential sectors such as banking, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, strategic enterprises, and government enterprises. This is an essential step towards safeguarding these critical sectors and preparing for the challenges they face in the face of cyber threats. Protecting critical sectors from cyber threats is an urgent priority that requires the development of robust cybersecurity practices and the implementation of effective measures to mitigate risks.

Overview of the National Cyber Security Policy 2013

The National Cyber Security Policy of 2013 was the first attempt to address cybersecurity concerns in India. However, it had several drawbacks that limited its effectiveness in mitigating cyber risks in the contemporary digital age. The policy’s outdated guidelines, insufficient prevention and response measures, and lack of legal implications hindered its ability to protect critical sectors adequately. Moreover, the policy should have kept up with the rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape and emerging technologies, leaving organisations vulnerable to new cyber-attacks. The 2013 policy failed to address the evolving nature of cyber threats, leaving organisations needing updated guidelines to combat new and sophisticated attacks.

As a result, an updated and more comprehensive policy, the National Cyber Security Reference Framework 2023, was necessary to address emerging challenges and provide strategic guidance for protecting critical sectors against cyber threats.

Highlights of NCRF 2023

• Strategic Guidance: NCRF 2023 has been developed to provide organisations with strategic guidance to address their cybersecurity concerns in a structured manner.
• Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR): The policy is based on a CBDR approach, recognising that different organisations have varying levels of cybersecurity needs and responsibilities.
• Update of National Cyber Security Policy 2013: NCRF supersedes the National Cyber Security Policy 2013, which was due for an update to align with the evolving cyber threat landscape and emerging challenges.
• Different from CERT-In Directives: NCRF is distinct from the directives issued by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) published in April 2023. It provides a comprehensive framework rather than specific directives for reporting cyber incidents.
• Combination of robust strategies: National Cyber Security Reference Framework 2023 will provide strategic guidance, a revised structure, and a proactive approach to cybersecurity, enabling organisations to tackle the growing cyberattacks in India better and safeguard critical sectors.

Rising incidents of malware attacks on critical sectors

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in malware attacks targeting critical sectors. These sectors, including banking, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, strategic enterprises, and government enterprises, play a crucial role in the functioning of economies and the well-being of societies. The escalating incidents of malware attacks on these sectors have raised concerns about the security and resilience of critical infrastructure.

• Banking: The banking sector handles sensitive financial data and is a prime target for cybercriminals due to the potential for financial fraud and theft.
• Energy: The energy sector, including power grids and oil companies, is critical for the functioning of economies, and disruptions can have severe consequences for national security and public safety.
• Healthcare: The healthcare sector holds valuable patient data, and cyber-attacks can compromise patient privacy and disrupt healthcare services. Malware attacks on healthcare organisations can result in the theft of patient records, ransomware incidents that cripple healthcare operations, and compromise medical devices.
• Telecommunications: Telecommunications infrastructure is vital for reliable communication, and attacks targeting this sector can lead to communication disruptions and compromise the privacy of transmitted data. The interconnectedness of telecommunications networks globally presents opportunities for cybercriminals to launch large-scale attacks, such as Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.
• Transportation: Malware attacks on transportation systems can lead to service disruptions, compromise control systems, and pose safety risks.
• Strategic Enterprises: Strategic enterprises, including defence, aerospace, intelligence agencies, and other sectors vital to national security, face sophisticated malware attacks with potentially severe consequences. Cyber adversaries target these enterprises to gain unauthorised access to classified information, compromise critical infrastructure, or sabotage national security operations.
• Government Enterprises: Government organisations hold a vast amount of sensitive data and provide essential services to citizens, making them targets for data breaches and attacks that can disrupt critical services.

Conclusion  

The sectors of banking, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, strategic enterprises, and government enterprises face unique vulnerabilities and challenges in the face of cyber-attacks. By recognising the significance of safeguarding these sectors, we can emphasise the need for proactive cybersecurity measures and collaborative efforts between public and private entities. Strengthening regulatory frameworks, sharing threat intelligence, and adopting best practices are essential to ensure our critical infrastructure’s resilience and security. Through these concerted efforts, we can create a safer digital environment for these sectors, protecting vital services and preserving the integrity of our economy and society. The rising incidents of malware attacks on critical sectors emphasise the urgent need for updated cybersecurity policy, enhanced cybersecurity measures, a collaboration between public and private entities, and the development of proactive defence strategies. National Cyber Security Reference Framework 2023 will help in addressing the evolving cyber threat landscape, protect critical sectors, fill the gaps in sector-specific best practices, promote collaboration, establish a regulatory framework, and address the challenges posed by emerging technologies. By providing strategic guidance, this framework will enhance organisations’ cybersecurity posture and ensure the protection of critical infrastructure in an increasingly digitised world.

Introduction

The whole world is shifting towards a cashless economy, with innovative payment transaction systems such as UPI payments, card payments, etc. These payment systems require processing, storage, and movement of millions of cardholders data which is crucial for any successful transaction.

And therefore to maintain the credibility of this payment ecosystem, security or secure movement and processing of cardholders data becomes paramount. Entities involved in a payment ecosystem are responsible for the security of cardholders data. Security is also important because if breaches happen in cardholders data it would amount to financial loss. Fraudsters are attempting smart ways to leverage any kind of security loopholes in the payment system.

So these entities which are involved in the payment ecosystem need to maintain some security standards set by one council of network providers in the payment industry popularly known as the Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council.

Overview of what is PCI and PCI DSS Compliance

Earlier every network providers in the payment industry have their own set of security standards but later they all together i.e., Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB constituted an independent body to come up with comprehensive security standards like PCI DSS, PA DSS, PCI-PTS, etc.  And these network providers ensure the enforcement of the security standards by putting conditions on services being provided to the merchant or acquirer bank.

In other words, PCI DSS particularly is the global standard that provides a baseline of technical and operational requirements designed to protect account data. PCI DSS is a security standard specially designed for merchants and service providers in the payment ecosystem to protect the cardholders data against any fraud or theft.

It applies to all the entities including third-party vendors which are involved in processing storing and transmitting cardholders data. In organization, even all CDE (Card Holder Data Environment) including system components or network component that stores and process cardholders data, has to comply with all the requirements of PCI compliance.  Recently PCI has released a new version of PCI DSS v4.0 a few months ago with certain changes from the previous version after three years of the review cycle.

12 Requirements of PCI DSS

This is the most important part of PCI DSS as following these requirements can make any organization to some extent PCI compliant. So what are these requirements:

• Installing firewalls or maintaining security controls in the networks
• Use strong password in order to secure the CDE( Card holders data environment)
• Protection of cardholder data
• Encrypting the cardholder data during transmission over an open and public network.
• Timely detection and protection of the cardholders data environment from any malicious activity or software.
• Regular updating the software thereby maintaining a secure system.
• Rule of business need to know should apply to access the cardholders data
• Identification and authentication of the user are important to access the system components.
• Physical access to cardholders data should be restricted.
• Monitoring or screening of system components to know the malicious activity internally in real-time.
• Regular auditing of security control and finding any vulnerabilities available in the systems.
• Make policies and programs accordingly in order to support information security.

How organization can become PCI compliant

• Scope: First step is to determine all the system components or networks storing and processing cardholders data i.e., Cardholders Data Environment.
• Assess: Then test whether these systems or networks are complying with all the requirements of PCI DSS COMPLIANCE.
• Report: Documenting all the assessment through self assessment questionnaire by answering following questions like whether the requirements are met or not? Whether the requirements are met with customized approach.
• Attest: Then the next step is to complete the attestation process available on the website of PCI SSC.
• Submit: Then organization can submit all the documents including reports and other supporting documents if it is requested by other entities such as payment brands, merchant or acquirer.
• Remediate: Then the organisation should take remedial action for the requirements which are not in place on the system components or networks.

Conclusion

One of the most important issues facing those involved in the digital payment ecosystem is cybersecurity. The likelihood of being exposed to cybersecurity hazards including online fraud, information theft, and virus assaults is rising as more and more users prefer using digital payments.

And thus complying and adopting with these security standards is the need of the hour. And moreover RBI has also mandated all the regulated entities ( NBFCs Banks etc) under one recent notification to comply with these standards.

Introduction

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a process through which one can improve website visibility on search engine platforms like Google, Microsoft Bing, etc. There is an implicit understanding that SEO suggestions or the links that are generated on top are the more popular information sources and, hence, are deemed to be more trustworthy. This trust, however, is being misused by threat actors through a process called SEO poisoning.

SEO poisoning is a method used by threat actors to attack and obtain information about the user by using manipulative methods that position their desired link, web page, etc to appear at the top of the search engine algorithm. The end goal is to lure the user into clicking and downloading their malware, presented in the garb of legitimate marketing or even as a valid result for Google search.

An active example of attempts at SEO poisoning has been discussed in a report by the Hindustan Times on 11th November, 2024. It highlights that using certain keywords could make a user more susceptible to hacking. Hackers are now targeting people who enter specific words or specific combinations in search engines. According to the report, users who looked up and clicked on links at the top related to the search query “Are Bengal cats legal in Australia?” had details regarding their personal information posted online soon after.

SEO Poisoning - Modus Operandi Of Attack

There are certain tactics that are used by the attackers on SEO poisoning, these are:

• Keyword stuffing- This method involves overloading a webpage with irrelevant words, which helps the false website appear higher in ranking.
• Typosquatting- This method involves creating domain names or links similar to the more popular and trusted websites. A lack of scrutiny before clicking would lead the user to download malware, from what they thought was a legitimate site.
• Cloaking- This method operates by showing different content to both the search engines and the user. While the search engine sees what it assumes to be a legitimate website, the user is exposed to harmful content.
• Private Link Networks- Threat actors create a group of unrelated websites in order to increase the number of referral links, which enables them to rank higher on search engine platforms.
• Article Spinning- This method involves imitating content from other pre-existing, legitimate websites, while making a few minor changes, giving the impression to search engine crawlers of it being original content.
• Sneaky Redirect- This method redirects the users to malicious websites (without their knowledge) instead of the ones the user had intended to click.

CyberPeace Recommendations

• Employee Security Awareness Training: Security awareness training can help employees familiarise themselves with tactics of SEO poisoning, encouraging them to either spot such inconsistencies early on or even alert the security team at the earliest. 
• Tool usage: Companies can use Digital Risk Monitoring tools to catch instances of typosquatting. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools also help keep an eye on client history and assess user activities during security breaches to figure out the source of the affected file.
• Internal Security Measures: To refer to lists of Indicators of Compromise (IOC). IOC has URL lists that show evidence of the strange behaviour of websites, and this can be used to practice caution. Deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) to mitigate and detect malicious traffic is helpful.

Conclusion

The nature of SEO poisoning is such that it inherently promotes the spread of misinformation, and facilitates cyberattacks. Misinformation regarding the legitimacy of the links and the content they display, in order to lure users into clicking on them, puts personal information under threat. As people trust their favoured search engines, and there is a lack of awareness of such tactics in use, one must exercise caution while clicking on links that seem to be popular, despite them being hosted by trusted search engines.

References

• https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/cyber-security/what-is-cyber-attack/what-is-seo-poisoning/
• https://www.vectra.ai/topics/seo-poisoning
• https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/search-poisoning
• https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/solutions/endpoint-security/ransomware-protection/seo-poisoning
• https://www.coalitioninc.com/blog/seo-poisoning-attacks
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160791X24000186
• https://www.repindia.com/blog/secure-your-organisation-from-seo-poisoning-and-malvertising-threats/ 
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/typing-these-6-words-on-google-could-make-you-a-target-for-hackers-101731286153415.html

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