A Guide for Karnataka Police
How to Lockdown the ‘Best’ Indian Cybercriminal?
While it is clear that more needs to be done, misguided proposals – such as the one by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, which seeks to “curb cybercrime” by banning VPN services in India – are definitely not the answer. Virtual Private Network is a protected network connection.
Banning VPN services, which may at times be used to slowdown cyber criminals, will not ensure the prevention of cybercrimes. Why? Sriki could have still learned all of the skills he did, and performed the hacks he allegedly carried out despite a VPN ban, by using other anonymity services, like the Tor browser.
In this regard, establishing a probe agency similar to the REACT Task Force in the US might be ideal. The task force was established in 1997 by the California State Department of Justice as a partnership between local, state, private and federal agencies in the country. The task force, in recent years, has helped investigate and prosecute many high-tech offenders.
Meanwhile, in Karnataka, cybercrime police and other investigation agencies are still struggling to find enough forensic evidence that could help them prosecute Sriki. Shouldn’t more cybercrime experts be consulted to prove him guilty if he indeed is a cybercrime mastermind?
For instance, users who are worried about the security of their funds, could withdraw cryptocurrency they have stored with third-party services and exchanges. In the case of trading platforms, as soon as a trade is made, funds should immediately be transferred out to a wallet under the user’s direct control, preferably to a hardware wallet or paper wallet.
While the process of moving funds out of third-party exchanges would incur certain fees, it may very well be a price worth paying to keep one’s funds safe.
As for Sriki, the probe needs to be strengthened, perhaps by bringing in expertise that the agencies may be lacking. The probe also needs to be transparent for it to lead to conviction.
(Karan Saini is a security researcher and public interest technologist based in Bangalore.)
