IIPA Holds Training Program on Cybercrime
AI Driven Cyber Attacks Pose Serious Multifaceted Threat
16/04/2025
Jammu, April 15 (KIP)- At a one-day Training Program on “Recent Trends in Cyber Crimes: Challenges, Impact and Prevention, & New Laws in J&K” conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, J&K Regional Branch, J&K civil servants were educated about the fast-emerging digital trends, new techniques & ‘innovations’ being adopted by the Cyber Scamsters. It was explained that cybercrime poses a serious and multifaceted threat with far-reaching consequences, impacting individuals, businesses, and national security. The impact of the fast-growing cybercrime ranges from financial losses to reputational damage and even physical harm like “Digital Arrest” and the consequent financial losses run into trillions of rupees.
First of its kind, the Program was attended by thirty middle rung officers of the Administration besides a large number of central govt pensioners, members of the civil society and IIPA. The program was presided over by B R Sharma, State Election Commissioner & Chairman, IIPA, J&K RB and attended among others by Dr. Ashok Bhan, Patron IIPA, J&K RB.
A well-known Cyber Expert and SSP CICE, J&K Mohd Yaseen Kichloo delivered a very illuminating lecture on new trends of Cyber Threats and Cyber Security with special reference to AI enabled crime like deep fake Digital arrest/pig butchering/ cyber slavery, Post quantum encryption.
Kichloo emphasised the need for awareness of the dangers confronting users of mobile and other technology driven gadgets and said that they must follow safety measures while using mobile, online and social media. He listed many preventive tips to save users from cyber frauds and hacking. He said that first of all, password should neither be shared with anyone nor saved in the gadgets as its storage is not secured. He advised the users to keep changing password periodically and make oit strong. He said that do not open attachments received on e-mail unless you are expecting it from someone known to you. To prevent hacking of your social media account, it is advisable to go in for the option of two-factor authentication ( password & OTP) to login into your accounts in social media sites and emails. In case your social media is hacked or compromised, it is desirable to alert all your contacts immediately and get your account temporarily blocked by the service provider. He also advised against purchasing anything through a spam message, and also giving your SMART phone, computer, or laptop to others. He also advised against sharing with anyone your bank account details, Aadhaar card details, OTP, CVV of ATM or Credit Cards. We should inform the Police without replying to phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages of winning the Lottery. He cautioned against using wifi at public places and using your picture in D.P. or Profile as your reputation can be compromised by morphing photo. It would be suicidal to chat on video calls from unknown attractive callers as the scamsters would easily blackmail you by using new technology. He recommended use of Antivirus or Firewall etc.
Kichloo said that these days social media accounts are getting cloned and the best way is to keep your profiles locked and use private accounts. He said that it would be easy for the cyber criminals to hack your social media account if a link on WhatsApp for a free Netflix package offer is clicked. Explaining in the context of the Phishing attack, he said that once the link with the free package offer is clicked, it gets redirected to Facebook login page and once you login, your account would be hacked.
He said that while using social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram, one should always keep into account security, privacy, safety & well-being. He advised people to file complaints immediately on MHA portal and, on its official website www.cyber.gov.in. Such complaints can be filed anonymously, he clarified.
Interesting part of the lecture was the practical session for checking whether mobiles of the participants are hacked. Advised to dial *#21#. If it is disabled then it is okay but if it is not, then the * (star) call forwarding is enabled. If call forwarding is to be disabled then Dial ##21# to remove call forwarding. When the audience posted “ https.www,haveibeen pwned.com," on their email, most of their email accounts were found to be compromised. This warranted a fresh and strong password.
Later, Joint Director Prosecution, Crime Headquarters, Laeeq Ahmad Dar talked about new Laws enacted recently by the Parliament. These are Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita & Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. These laws have modernised the criminal justice system in India, incorporating technological advancements. He mentioned many changes affected in the new laws that benefited the criminal justice system. Some of the features of the laws included e-complaints, zero FIR (allowing FIRs to be filed at any police station regardless of jurisdiction), mandatory videography of crime scenes, and electronic service of summonses.
B R Sharma in his presidential address, referred to concern on fast increasing cybercrime in India and said that Artificial Intelligence driven cyber-attacks were growing every day that warranted mass awareness among all users of the mobile and social media. He said that there had been increase of 113 % incidents of cyber-attacks in 2021-12 and 61 % in 2023 in India and more than 80% of these frauds were financial. He said that India suffered a financial loss of Rs 1740 cr in first three months of 2025 and there is a scary estimate that world over cyber-attacks would lead to loss of 10.50 trillion dollars by the end of 2025.
Sharma said that the criminals are using new techniques and new technology like advanced Phishing attack, spam emails, Deep Fake Technology & exploitation of AI by using voice and Photo Deep fake to target people. Ninety-seven cyber-attacks are taking place per hour. He said that the senior citizens are more prone to cyber-attacks and they need to be sensitized about cybercrime. Such awareness lectures should be organised for pensioners.
Dr. Ashok Bhan & B R Sharma honoured both the Speakers with Certificates of Appreciation.
Earlier, the Honorary Secretary Prof Alka Sharma welcomed the participants and other guests and Director Seminar Er. Madan Gupta presented the formal vote of thanks.