KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted June 27, 2007 (edited) Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/SMSing...ews/2154485.cms PTI[ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007 05:00:31 PM] BANGALORE: Think twice before you SMS that really funny obscene joke or blindly forward a photograph - you could land yourself behind bars or unknowingly act as a conduit for a terrorist gang, warn IT experts. "Terrorist use the net for achieving their goals. An innocent man may be unknowingly drawn into the terrorist network, when he receives a photograph of a beautiful woman from a stranger, who then asks him to forward it to 21 friends to win a prize," Vijayshankar, Consultant, Cyber Law and Techno Legal Cyber Security, said. "The photograph could contain a hidden terrorist message encrypted within," he said. The attack on Parliament was linked to hidden messages SMSed to various people in the garb of a beautiful photograph of leading Indian actress, he said. "Hence, one should not forward messages received from unknown persons," says Vijayshankar, who is part of the IT Professionals' Forum (ITPF) group which is organisimg a web seminar on June 29 to warn people on cyber crimes. "Cyber crime is no longer happening only to people working with higher technology. It has begun to affect ordinary people and was reaching the smaller cities and towns as well," Vijayshankar said. Even a person who has never used the net could become a victim of cybercrime. Citing an example of housewife in Coimbatore, he said that the housewife who did not know how to use a computer began receiving obscene calls. Investigations revealed that her phone number had been posted on the net by a relative from her own house since the two were not on good terms, he said. Youngsters, who often threw caution to the winds and indulged in 'cyber adventure', could land themselves in the grip of law, says Vijayashankar, quoting an instance where an employee of a leading company hacked into the e-mail of his friend and sent an obscene e-mail to his friend's new employer even before his colleague could take up the job. "The innocent colleague on landing at the office was handed over a sack order even before he joined the company. However, with subsequent help from the cyber crime cell, he was able to prove his innocence and track down the offensive e-mail to his friend, who has now lost his job," he said. Sending obscene jokes also may no longer be a laughing matter, if a person offended by the joke decided to take action against the sender under the new cyber law. "Anything within the domain of an electronic document including cell phones, e-mail, blogs can provide evidence in cyber crime. An employee of a leading company who wrote defamatory words against a rival organisation on his blog, was taken to task by the rivals, who demanded punitive action against him and the company was forced to ask him to resign," says Vijayashankar. "Replace adventure with caution and do not 'freak out' on the net because in cyberspace, there is no concept like anonymity. Anything and everything can be tracked down," he said adding it was easier to track a cyber crime compared to physical crime because one left behind electronic documents and secondly because the investigator sitting in one place could track you down no matter where you are. The virus 'I love You' which hit the net was tracked down to a student in Phillipines. "You can't escape no matter how smart you think you are," he said. Sixty per cent of the people involved in cyber crimes really were not criminal at heart, says Vijayashankar. However, the law enforcers would have to register a crime case because it violated the cyber law. "Many people, including IT professionals, sometime were not even aware their actions were a cyber crime," he said, adding "that happens because legal education has never been part of the curriculum". "Companies should educate their employees about benchmark ethics in cyberspace. Computer Engineers should have a component relating to cybercrime since they work in cyberspace," he said. Sending an email and coercing people to adhere to the diktat of the letter chain could actually land one in trouble, so also the downloading of films and songs, he said. The SMS sent by an unknown stranger could be dangerous if forwarded because offenders try and steal bank passwords and siphon off money. Many spy on internet users and defraud them with false promises of jobs prizes and wealth. In a recent case in a small town, some youths received an SMS asking them to pay up 500 dollars for an overseas job which they did only to find they had been cheated. SMS promising free prizes are often sent to gullible victims. Quoting a recent case on the net, he said a handicapped woman had been interacting with a Canadian friend and sent him a photograph of a budding Indian actress claiming it to be her own. The Canadian fell in love and sent her expensive gifts but the game was up when he got to know the reality. "Fun can turn into crime," he says warning about the dangers looming large on the cyber highway for those with that impulsive 'funny (cyber) bone' lurking within them. SO friends, take care when you send SMSs to any known or unknown person. Edited June 28, 2007 by KumaarShah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted June 27, 2007 ^^^ Absolutely my dear friends, one should be aware before forwarding others / unknown SMS's. Lets take this as a warning. Regards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amtrag 20 Report post Posted June 28, 2007 Yes. And as a matter of practice, I always delete mails from any unknown IDs that I receive on my hotmail/ gmail accounts...without even opening them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
@ksh@T 20 Report post Posted June 29, 2007 kumaarBhai i sms u at times.... please donot do this to me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drali 6 Report post Posted June 29, 2007 And Akshat tum mera khyal rakhna. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
@ksh@T 20 Report post Posted July 1, 2007 And Akshat tum mera khyal rakhna. come on ali bhai!....u r gr8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted July 1, 2007 @ aks, You were the one who asked to de-register for SMSs and I only followed you. So I am the chela and you are the guru. By that yardstick, hope you dont do me in. In any case, I have severely restricted SMSing from last 2 months because of obvious reasons like battery running out before 2PM, no time nowadays, unable to delete so many SMSs (mostly hindi shairies of course) every hour. I used to receive almost 200 to 300 SMSs every day. My poor mobile just could not keep up with it and started groaning. Until I get another mobile with unltd store capacity, faster sending to various groups and definitely better battery life, I dont think I will be able to re-start SMSsing to all my dearest friends at RW. And yes, I had almost short-listed ppc 6700 but am now waiting for a dual mode (CDMA cum GSM) phone. Hope it comes sooner with all the +ve SMS features I require. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
@ksh@T 20 Report post Posted July 2, 2007 yeah i did that but yaar at times when i am free i do miss the sms'ing all the frenz and at times i doo sms them..its at times good and at times bad...but ali bhai he i s damn!.....he just messages and messages... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drali 6 Report post Posted July 3, 2007 yeah i did that but yaar at times when i am free i do miss the sms'ing all the frenz and at times i doo sms them..its at times good and at times bad...but ali bhai he i s damn!.....he just messages and messages... Akshat mai tum logo ko yaad kiye bina ek pal bhi nahi reh sakta. my phone is dead now & i am using d new one without d old phonebook.still i try to be in touch with my lovable DAPO group. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted July 4, 2007 ^^^ tussi great ho, alibhai!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
