Now Reading: Centre says WhatsApp malware blocks protected over 10,000 Indians
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Centre says WhatsApp malware blocks protected over 10,000 Indians
The Centre said on Friday that coordinated action by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre has protected more than 10,000 Indians from a WhatsApp account takeover campaign. The Ministry of Home Affairs…
The Story in Brief
The Centre said on Friday that coordinated action by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre has protected more than 10,000 Indians from a WhatsApp account takeover campaign. The Ministry of Home Affairs said I4C geo-blocked malicious command-and-control servers through the Sahyog Portal and continues to block malware. Complaints have risen on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, with incidents reported in Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Attackers send compressed files named Statement of Account.zip, RBI.zip or MCA.zip through WhatsApp, SMS or email. The MHA said opening them on a Windows computer installs a Trojan that hijacks an active WhatsApp Web session. The compromised account then sends the file to contacts and groups, often asking recipients to forward it to a company finance manager.
The Indian Opinion
The lazy claim that a familiar RBI or MCA file must be genuine is dangerous, but the opposite claim that every such message proves a nationwide breach is also unsupported. The government’s figure covers people it says were protected, not confirmed victims, so it should not be treated as a measure of damage. The useful test is whether NCRP complaints fall after the blocks, and by how much.
Sources (2): siasat.com, telanganatoday.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
