Hackers deposit Re 1 in TRAI chief R S Sharma’s bank account
BENGALURU: Ethical hackers on Sunday claimed to have the bank account details of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman R S Sharma and posted the same on Twitter. Users also posted screenshots of sending Re 1 to Sharma via the Aadhaar-Enabled Payment Service using apps like BHIM and Paytm, and through IMPS. They also posted the transaction IDs.
This is a fallout of the chairman's move to post his Aadhaar number, 7621 7768 2740, on Saturday and challenging Aadhaar critics to do him harm if they could. TOI could not independently confirm any of Sharma's data.
On Sunday, ethical hackers - including Elliot Alderson, Pushpendra Singh, Kanishk Sajnani, Anivar Arvind, and Karan Saini - pointed out that nearly 14 items had been leaked so far. This includes Sharma's mobile numbers, residential address, date of birth, PAN number, voter ID number, telecom operator, phone model, and Air India frequent flyer ID.
They also claimed to have his bank account number and IFSC code for five other accounts - in PNB, Bank of India, SBI (joint account), Kotak Mahindra and ICICI Bank. Anivar Aravind and a few others sent Re 1 to his Bank of India account via AEPS. Twitter users cautioned the chairman that the ability to send money to him without his consent could expose him to blackmail, money laundering and other dangers.
Hackers also posted his demat account details, his payment history for a three-year subscription to a right-wing website with his SBI debit card, usage of Aadhaar card for sale of organic goods by Leela Dhar Organics of Hari Sewak Sharma on July 2, 2018.
Ethical hackers are those who hack into computer networks to test or evaluate their security, rather than with malicious or criminal intent. Aadhaar issuing body UIDAI on Sunday reiterated that Aadhaar was safe and secure.
UIDAI said that hackers had obtained this information on R S Sharma by Googling him as he was a long-standing public servant. This was shortly after Pushpendra Singh, who is also a blockchain developer, posted screenshots of obtaining Sharma’s Punjab National Bank account number, IFSC code, MICR code and other details from the UIDAI database. TOI could not independently confirm any of Sharma’s data.
Ethical hackers also claimed to have his bank account number and IFSC code for five other bank accounts. Anivar Aravind and a few others sent Re 1 to his Bank of India account via AEPS. Hackers also posted his Yahoo email address, demat account details, his payment history for a three-year subscription to a right-wing website with his SBI debit card, usage of Aadhaar card for sale of organic goods by Leela Dhar Organics of Hari Sewak Sharma on July 2, 2018.
French security expert Elliot Alderson advised Sharma to change his Gmail password as it had been hacked. To which Sharma tweeted: “No. Why should I change? It is working fine! Even if you hack, it is not because of Aadhaar!”
More Aadhaar backers post ID number online
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman R S Sharma’s Twitter challenge has now escalated into a Twitter war between those who are for Aadhaar and those against it. On Sunday, following Sharma’s footsteps, several Aadhaar supporters posted their Aadhaar numbers online and dared hackers to harm them.
The TRAI chairman retweeted the tweets from his followers such as Amarendra Joshi (also followed by Narendra Modi’s official handle) who put out their Aadhaar numbers. Other users like VG, Amit Kumar and a dozen others posted their Aadhaar details and mobile numbers. Sharma retweeted one Bharath Vasi’s tweet: “A tight slap to all the hyper active privacy paranoids!! The self-proclaimed hackers, who are showing his mobile, PAN numbers & address data, can’t they hack such info without knowing his Aadhaar? Surly they can obtain! Then why blame #Aadhaar?”
Several anti-Aadhaar tweets pointed out that those exposing the data are ethical hackers and cannot use it to harm Sharma.
courtesy : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
