Asian countries at risk from 'Balkanisation' in cyber space: Kaspersky
Siem Reap (Cambodia), Sep 20 : India as well as other Asian countries are vulnerable to the risk of cyber threats from "Balkanisation" in cyber space, warned Russia-based global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab on Thursday.
Presenting key cybersecurity issues, Kaspersky's top researchers and executives made the possible threat announcement to an audience of journalists from 11 countries across the region at the firm's 4th Asia Pacific (APAC) cybersecurity annual summit.
The threat is "due to fragmentation of the world wide web", they said at the four-day event, with the theme of "Balkanisation".
Stressing the need to be more cautious about the threat, they said the "security should not be in isolation" and highlighted the possible perils of de-globalisation of the Internet.
Emphasising that "Balkanisation" and the advent of protectionism being displayed by nations around the world, they said it will "benefit no one but the cybercriminals".
Echoing the warning of Kaspersky's CEO and founder Eugene Kaspersky, Managing Director of the firm's APAC region Stephan Neumeier said: "We can clearly see that the utopia of a borderless digital global village is coming to an end.
"With different countries building their local web fences, the initially free Internet is turning into divided and independent patches of online states, which may benefit individual countries to some extent, but will surely be an ace card for criminals aiming to unleash worldwide cyberthreats."
Demystifying the future of the Internet based on his 13 years' experience in analyzing malware and the current laws and trends that transform the cyber security landscape around the world, Kaspersky's Director of GReAT in APAC, Vitaly Kamluk said the "volume of new malware we detect daily has been increasing year-on-year in number, in sophistication, and in reach".
"The future of the Internet is fragile and, as nations scramble to beef up their defences, we're giving birth to 'Balkanisation'.
"However, fragmentation is not the armor we need to face the menace of the Internet of tomorrow. Remember, a divided world is easier to conquer. We need cooperation, collaboration, and mutual trust to effectively thwart these cybercriminals who acknowledge neither geopolitics nor borders," warned Kamluk.
He said that the Kaspersky's CEO noted in an article how countries like Brazil and Germany are considering, or may have already kicked off their independent sectors of the Internet which involve building parallel networks, isolated from the Internet, for highly confidential communication exchanges.
Aside from this, Kaspersky's researchers said, several countries are also crafting policies requiring global tech giants like Google and Facebook to shift their data centres to local locations to curb foreign spying and overseas data intrusions.
In addition to the important debate on the future of the Internet, Kaspersky's Korea-based senior security researcher, Seongsu Park, explained the sophisticated and infamous online adversary of APAC countries: the Lazarus group.
Park zeroed in on the operations of this notorious, Korean-speaking advanced persistent threat (APT) which has launched fake supply chain attacks in delivering malware to Windows and even "MacOS devices".
Suguru Ishimaru, security researcher in Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team, shared how the methods were used to analyse Android malware and said the recent activities of the mobile malware dubbed as "Roaming Mantis", a money-motivated attacker, was able to successfully infect Android smartphones in South Korea, Bangladesh, and Japan through DNS hijacking earlier this year.
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EC dismisses scope for wrongdoing at strongrooms; prohibitory orders around Kolkata counting centres
Kolkata (PTI): A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spent hours at the EVM strongroom of her Bhabanipur constituency alleging possibilities of malpractices, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal on Friday asserted there is no scope for wrongdoing at the counting centres.
Following tensions around two counting centres in Kolkata late on Thursday, police clamped prohibitory orders on gatherings outside all seven strongrooms in the city.
Stating that round-the-clock CCTV monitoring of strongrooms was in place, Agarwal dismissed the allegations as "baseless".
TMC spokesperson and Beleghata constituency candidate Kunal Ghosh said that party workers and poll aspirants were keeping a strict vigil at the counting centres, where the EVMs are stored in strongrooms, upon directions of party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
"There is no scope for any wrongdoing given the arrangements made to secure the EVMs. The Centres have been kept under thorough CCTV coverage and their live-streamed footage can be seen from outside," Agarwal told reporters.
"One should have reason and evidence for making allegations," he said, maintaining that there were no grounds for levelling charges of EVM tampering or pre-counting malpractice.
Two counting centres in Kolkata witnessed high drama late on Thursday evening after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
Mamata Banerjee herself landed up at the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre and stayed put there for about four hours. She emerged from the premises past midnight and warned against any attempts to tamper with the counting process, demanding greater transparency.
TMC leaders and candidates Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents.
Matters came to a head after a large number of supporters from both TMC and BJP camps gathered outside the venue, shouting slogans till they were dispersed by security forces.
The EC, however, dismissed the claim, clarifying that poll officials were engaged in the task of segregating postal ballots as per due process and the strongrooms remained secure, asserting all political parties for the mandatory segregation activity were duly notified.
On Friday, Kolkata Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS around all seven designated strong rooms in the city.
As per the order issued by Police Commissioner Ajay Nand, the restrictions prohibited the assembly of five or more persons within a 200-metre radius of each strongroom, along with a ban on processions, demonstrations, and carrying of weapons or explosive materials.
The measure, which aims to prevent any breach of peace, violence, or disturbance during the storage of ballot papers and polled EVMs, will remain in force until the commencement of counting on May 4.
Besides the two counting centres in question, the prohibitory orders were also clamped around the Hastings House complex, APC Polytechnic College, St. Thomas Boys' High School, Ballygunge Government High School and the David Hare Training College counting premises.
A senior police officer said enhanced security arrangements have been made at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the counting centre for several assembly seats in north and east Kolkata housing EVM strong rooms.
"Additional CAPFs and armed police forces have also been deployed under the supervision of an additional commissioner and a deputy commissioner of police," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kolkata, Rupesh Kumar, told reporters after visiting the area.
Expressing apprehension that unauthorised movements might occur when a section of postal ballots is brought in the evening, Kunal Ghosh said on Friday morning that the party's polling agents and candidates have been alerted about the matter.
Minister Shashi Panja, who also arrived at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in the morning, maintained that "transparency" should be ensured for all strongroom activities.
Ghosh told reporters on Friday that though they had seen some movement in a strongroom that allegedly stored postal ballots, there was no such movement on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Banerjee's challenger at Bhabanipur and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari took a dig at the chief minister for her late-night visit to the counting centre.
"I want to reassure the people of Bhabanipur and of West Bengal that the TMC candidate and outgoing chief minister was prevented from taking any additional advantage. Despite her best intentions to the contrary, she wasn't allowed to act in violation of rules," Adhikari wrote on social media platforms, posting a picture of Banerjee sitting at what appeared to be an area outside the counting centre strong room.
"Till such time she was present there, my election agent, advocate Surjyanil Das personally positioned himself at the spot keeping a tight watch on her so that she isn't able to take recourse to improper means," he added.
Security forces kept a strict vigil in and around counting centres and strongrooms in Kolkata and other districts where EVM machines used in the state assembly elections are stored, an official said.
Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur, which saw high drama till the early hours of Friday with the chief minister spending several hours at the counting centre, wore a peaceful look in the morning with security personnel guarding the area.
