Launch of Central Suspect Registry to Combat Cyber Crimes

As technological advancements continue to shape the future, the rise of artificial intelligence brings with it significant potential benefits, yet also raises concerns about the spread of misinformation. Recognising the need for accountability on both ends, on 5th May, during the three-day World News Media Congress 2025 in Kraków, Poland the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) have announced to the public the five core principles for their joint initiative called News Integrity in the Age of AI. The initiative is aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation between media organisations and technology platforms, and the principles announced are to be a code of practice to be followed by all those taking part. With thousands of public and private media outlets around the world joining the effort, the initiative highlights the shared responsibility of AI developers to ensure that AI systems are trustworthy, safe, and supportive of a reliable news ecosystem. It represents a global call to action to uphold the integrity of news in this age of major influx and curb the growing challenge of misinformation.

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The five core principles released focus on:

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1. Authorisation of content by the originators is a must prior to its usage in Generative AI tools and models

2. High-quality and up-to-date news content must be recognised by third parties that are benefiting from it

3. There must be a focus on accuracy and attribution, making the original sources of news  apparent to the public, promoting transparency

4. Harnessing the plural nature of the news perspectives, which will help AI-driven tools perform better and

5. An invitation to tech companies for an open dialogue with news outlets, facilitating conversation to collaborate and develop standards of transparency, accuracy, and safety.

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As this initiative provides a unified platform to address and deliberate on issues affecting the integrity of news, there are also some other technical ways in which misinformation in news caused by AI can be curbed:

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1. Encourage the usage of Smaller Generative AI Models: The Large Language Models (LLMs) have to be trained on a range of topics. Businesses don’t require such an expanse of information but just a little that is relevant. A narrower context of information to be sourced from allows better content navigation and a reduced chance of mix-up.

2. Fighting AI hallucination: This is a phenomenon that causes generative AI (such as chatbots and computer vision tools) to present nonsensical and inaccurate outputs as the system perceives objects or patterns that are imperceptible or non-existent to human observers. This occurs as a result of the system trying to focus on both language fluency and stitching information from different sources together. In order to deal with this, one can deploy retrieval augmented generation (RAG). This enables connection with external sources of data that include academic journals, a company’s organisational data, among other things, that would help in providing more accurate, domain-specific content.  

Conclusion

This global call to action marks an important step toward fostering unified efforts to combat misinformation. The set of principles introduced is designed to be adaptable, providing a flexible framework that can evolve to address emerging challenges (through dialogue and discussion), including issues like copyright infringement. While AI offers powerful tools to support the news industry, it is essential to emphasise that human oversight remains crucial. These technological advancements are meant to enhance and augment the work of journalists, not replace it, ensuring that the core values of journalism, such as accuracy and integrity, are preserved in the age of AI.

References

● https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/tip/Generative-AI-ethics-8-biggest-concerns

● https://trilateralresearch.com/responsible-ai/using-responsible-ai-to-combat-misinformation

● https://www.omdena.com/blog/the-ethical-role-of-ai-in-media-combating-misformation

● https://2024.jou.ufl.edu/page/ai-and-misinformation

● https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/ai-developers-should-counter-misinformation-protect-fact-based-news-global-media-groups/article69547636.ece

● https://techxplore.com/news/2025-05-ai-counter-misinformation-fact-based.html

● https://www.advanced-television.com/2025/05/06/media-outlets-call-for-ai-companies-news-integrity-protection/https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/ai-misinformation

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Introduction

On May 21st, 2025, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) launched the Financial Risk Indicator (FRI) feature, marking an important step towards safeguarding mobile phone users from the risks of financial fraud. This was developed as a part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), which facilitates coordination between stakeholders to curb the misuse of telecom services for conducting cyber crimes.

What is the Financial Risk Indicator (FRI)?

The FRI is a risk-based metric feature that categorises phone numbers into risk, medium risk, and high risk based on their association with financial fraud in the past. The data pool enabling this intelligence sharing includes the Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) of the DoT, which engages and sends a list of Mobile Numbers that were disconnected (Mobile Number Revocation List - MNRL) to the following stakeholders, creating a network of checks and balances. They are:

1. Intelligence from Non-Banking Finance Companies, and UPI (Unified Payment Interface) gateways.
2. The Chakshu facility- a feature on the Sanchar Saathi portal that enables users to report suspected fraudulent communication (Calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages), which has also been roped in.
3. Complaints from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) through the I4C (Indian Cyber Coordination Center).

Some other initiatives taken up concerning securing against digital financial fraud are the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, the International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System, among others.

A United Stance

The ease of payment and increasing digitisation might have enabled the increasing usage of UPI platforms. However, post-adoption, the responsibility of securing the digital payments infrastructure becomes essential. As per a report by CNBC TV18, UPI fraud cases surged by 85% in FY24. The number of incidents have increased from 7.25 lakh in FY23 to 13.42 lakh in FY24. These cases involved a total value of ₹1,087 crore, compared to ₹573 crore in the previous year, and the number continues to increase. 

Nevertheless, UPI platforms are taking their own initiative to combat such crimes. PhonePe, one of the most used digital payment interface as of January 2025 (Statista) has already incorporated the FRI into its PhonePe Protect feature; this blocks transactions with high-risk numbers and issues a warning prior to engaging with numbers that are categorised to be of medium risk. 

CyberPeace Insights

The launch of a feature addressing the growing threat of financial fraud is crucial for creating a network of stakeholders to coordinate with law enforcement to better track and prevent crimes. Publicity of these measures will raise public awareness and keep end-users informed. A secure infrastructure for digital payments is necessary in this age, with a robust base mechanism that can adapt to both current and future threats.

References

• https://www.thehawk.in/news/economy-and-business/centre-launches-financial-fraud-risk-indicator-to-safeguard-mobile-users
• https://telanganatoday.com/government-launches-financial-fraud-risk-indicator-to-safeguard-mobile-users
• https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2130249#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20%E2%80%9CFinancial%20Fraud,High%20risk%20of%20financial%20fraud
• https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/dot-launches-financial-fraud-risk-indicator-to-aid-cybercrime-detection-125052101912_1.html 
• https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/finance/upi-fraud-cases-rise-85-pc-in-fy24-increase-parliament-reply-data-19514295.htm
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1034443/india-upi-usage-by-platform/#:~:text=In%20January%202025%2C%20PhonePe%20held%20the%20highest,key%20drivers%20of%20UPI%20adoption%20in%20India
• https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/policy/centre-notifies-draft-rules-for-delicensing-lower-6-ghz-band/121260887?nt

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Introduction

Cybersecurity threats have been globally prevalent for quite some time now. All nations, organisations and individuals stand at risk from new and emerging potential cybersecurity threats, putting finances, privacy, data, identities and sometimes human lives at stake. The latest Data Breach Report by IBM revealed that nearly a staggering 83% of organisations experienced more than one data breach instance during 2022. As per the 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon, the total number of global ransomware attacks surged by 13%, indicating a concerning rise equal to the last five years combined. The statistics clearly showcase how the future is filled with potential threats as we advance further into the digital age.  

Who is Okta?  

Okta is a secure identity cloud that links all your apps, logins and devices into a unified digital fabric. Okta has been in existence since 2009 and is based out of San Francisco, USA and has been one of the leading service providers in the States. The advent of the company led to early success based on the high-quality services and products introduced by them in the market. Although Okta is not as well-known as the big techs, it plays a vital role in big organisations' cybersecurity systems. More than 18,000 users of the identity management company's products rely on it to give them a single login for the several platforms that a particular business uses. For instance, Zoom leverages Okta to provide "seamless" access to its Google Workspace, ServiceNow, VMware, and Workday systems with only one login, thus showing how Okta is fundamental in providing services to ease the human effort on various platforms. In the digital age, such organisations are instrumental in leading the pathway to innovation and entrepreneurship. 

The Okta Breach

The last Friday, 20 October, Okta reported a hack of its support system, leading to chaos and havoc within the organisation. The result of the hack can be seen in the market in the form of the massive losses incurred by Okta in the stock exchange. 

Since the attack, the company's market value has dropped by more than $2 billion. The well-known incident is the most recent in a long line of events connected to Okta or its products, which also includes a wave of casino invasions that caused days-long disruptions to hotel rooms in Las Vegas, casino giants Caesars and MGM were both affected by hacks as reported earlier this year. Both of those attacks, targeting MGM and Caesars’ Okta installations, used a sophisticated social engineering attack that went through IT help desks.

What can be done to prevent this? 

Cybersecurity attacks on organisations have become a very common occurrence ever since the pandemic and are rampant all across the globe. Major big techs have been successful in setting up SoPs, safeguards and precautionary measures to protect their companies and their digital assets and interests. However, the Medium, Mico and small business owners are the most vulnerable to such unknown high-intensity attacks. The governments of various nations have established Computer Emergency Response Teams to monitor and investigate such massive-scale cyberattacks both on organisations and individuals. The issue of cybersecurity can be better addressed by inculcating the following aspects into our daily digital routines: 

• Team Upskilling: Organisations need to be critical in creating upskilling avenues for employees pertaining to cybersecurity and threats. These campaigns should be run periodically, focusing on both the individual and organisational impact of any threat.  
• Reporting Mechanism for Employees and Customers: Business owners and organisations need to deploy robust, sustainable and efficient reporting mechanisms for both employees well as customers. The mechanism will be fundamental in pinpointing the potential grey areas and threats in the cyber security mechanism as well. A dedicated reporting mechanism is now a mandate by a lot of governments around the world as it showcases transparency and natural justice in terms of legal remedies.  
• Preventive, Precautionary and Recovery Policies: Organisations need to create and deploy respective preventive, precautionary and recovery policies in regard to different forms of cyber attacks and threats. This will be helpful in a better understanding of threats and faster response in cases of emergencies and attacks. These policies should be updated regularly, keeping in mind the emerging technologies. Efficient deployment of the policies can be done by conducting mock drills and threat assessment activities.  
• Global Dialogue Forums: It is pertinent for organisations and the industry to create a community of cyber security enthusiasts from different and diverse backgrounds to address the growing issues of cyberspace; this can be done by conducting and creating global dialogue forums, which will act as the beacon of sharing best practices, advisories, threat assessment reports, potential threats and attacks thus establishing better inter-agency and inter-organisation communication and coordination.  
• Data Anonymisation and Encryption: Organisations should have data management/processing policies in place for transparency and should always store data in an encrypted and anonymous manner, thus creating a blanket of safety in case of any data breach.
• Critical infrastructure: The industry leaders should push the limits of innovation by setting up state-of-the-art critical cyber infrastructure to create employment, innovation, and entrepreneurship spirit among the youth, thus creating a whole new generation of cyber-ready professionals and dedicated netizens. Critical infrastructures are essential in creating a safe, secure, resilient and secured digital ecosystem. 
• Cysec Audits & Sandboxing: All organisations should establish periodic routines of Cybersecurity audits, both by internal and external entities, to find any issue/grey area in the security systems. This will create a more robust and adaptive cybersecurity mechanism for the organisation and its employees. All tech developing and testing companies need to conduct proper sandboxing exercises for all or any new tech/software creation to identify its shortcomings and flaws. 

‍Conclusion 

In view of the rising cybersecurity attacks on organisations, especially small and medium companies, a lot has been done, and a lot more needs to be done to establish an aspect of safety and security for companies, employees and customers. The impact of the Okta breach very clearly show how cyber attacks can cause massive repercussion for any organisation in the form of monetary loss, loss of business, damage to reputation and a lot of other factors. One should take such instances as examples and learnings for ourselves and prepare our organisation to combat similar types of threats, ultimately working towards preventing these types of threats and eradicating the influence of bad actors from our digital ecosystem altogether. 

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References: 

• https://hbr.org/2023/05/the-devastating-business-impacts-of-a-cyber-breach#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20global%20average,legal%20fees%2C%20and%20audit%20fees.
• https://www.okta.com/intro-to-okta/#:~:text=Okta%20is%20a%20secure%20identity,use%20to%20work%2C%20instantly%20available.
• https://www.cyberpeace.org/resources/blogs/mgm-resorts-shuts-down-it-systems-after-cyberattack

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