At a time when the nation is observing the first anniversary of the Galwan massacre and remembering the supreme sacrifice made by the jawans that prevented Chinese aggression from penetrating further into the Indian territory, a series of recent developments will underline the reality how vulnerable the country is in face of ‘attacks’ by the ever-hostile neighbour, not through conventional ways, but through digital means. While it’s not sure how much national attention has fallen on last week’s arrest of a Chinese national from the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s Malda district, initial findings suggest the matter is serious so far as India’s security is concerned. There is deep suspicion that the arrested Chinese is a spy. In another incident last week, Delhi Police have busted a nationwide fraud syndicate run by Chinese nationals in connivance with Indian fraudsters who have duped more than half a million Indias by over Rs 150 crore, all through the ‘world wide web’ route. It needs a special look over how China has swiftly recuperated from its Galwan loss and has launched a renewed attack and quite effectively exploited the most vulnerable front- the online world. The Centre must activate its surveillance network in the highest-alert mode, otherwise Digital India will continue to suffer from the phobia of crumbling like a house of cards.
Even if the sleuths of the STF of Bengal Police are finding it quite difficult to extract information from the arrested Chinese due to his ‘unbreakable attitude’ which clearly points out he has been adequately trained for espionage duties, so far that has been gathered will lead to goose bumps. Hoodwinking the Indian security network layers, the man has already supplied at least 1,300 Indian SIM cards to his counterparts in China which were allegedly being used for stealing data and defrauding people and banks in India. He has confessed he visited India six times so far, including once to Hyderabad in 2010. It’s the ‘long association’ that is critical to the case and if it finally transpires that the espionage process was going on retrospectively for more than 11 years, then it’s really a matter of concern. The Rs 150-cr-siphoning case points out the lacuna in the so-called firewall of the Indian digital world. Just with two malicious mobile applications- Power Bank and EZPlan that promised to double the invested amount in 24-35 days, fraud was being carried out. Last year, scores of Chinese apps were banned and it was announced that vigil will be intact. It’s incomprehensible then how these cheat apps escaped the radar.
China is always ready to walk extra miles to torment India and cyber related attacks seem to be their preferred choice. Shielding Indian netizens is Government of India’s responsibility.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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