Nothing cannot be hacked: Fadia

Patna: What will you do if somebody hacks into your computer, laptop or cellphone? How will you react if someone targets your bank account and wipes out all your money? Who will come to your rescue if somebody spies on you and steals your identity? Ethical hacker Ankit Fadia has answers to all your queries.
With live hacking demonstrations, the 31-year-old tech junkie on Saturday explained how cyber criminals all over were waiting in the wings to exploit growing technologies.“Now, we are more dependent on technology than we have ever been before. Youngsters are hooked on the internet and their minds continuously occupied in texting, emailing, tweeting, watching videos and playing games. They leave a digital footprint wherever they go, which makes them accessible to anyone from anywhere,” said Fadia, who was the keynote speaker at an interactive seminar on cybercrime and security organized by the Arcade College of Business, in Patna.
Cybersecurity is an issue of global concern as tech ‘crooks’ have stepped in to take advantage of the lack of awareness among the internet users. According to Fadia, one should delve deep into the mind of a criminal and start thinking like him to catch him. “Set a thief to catch a thief. Ethical hackers, who attack a company’s website, search for the weak links and help strengthen its security system, have begun catching up with those using the internet for illicit purposes,” he said.
Giving stepwise directions, Fadia threw light on how a hacker changes an IP address and spies on people. “It is easy to hide your identity on the internet by connecting to proxy servers like KProxy, Anonymizer, Tor (computers), Orbot (android phones) and HideMyAss (iPhone). You can also infect someone’s computer or cellphone with Trojans, the most common among which are Netbus, Back Orrifice and SUB7,” he said, adding tools such as Wickr, RedPhone, VeraCrypt, Eraser and AppLock helped protect files, folders and drives.
In a lighter vein, the cyberexpert also taught the audience to send “spoofed” messages to friends. While http://emkei.cz helps create hoax e-mails, smsgang.com sends fake text messages. “From Wi-Fi passwords to ATM machines and digital road signage, there is nothing that cannot be hacked. With Hola, a person sitting in any part of India can unblock popular American websites, including Netflix, Pandora and Hulu, and watch his favourite TV series and flicks,” he explained and urged the students to take up ethical hacking as a career.
Senior IPS officer J S Gangwar, who was also present on the occasion, said a proposal to recruit 10 cybercrime experts in each district of Bihar had been sent to the state government and an advertisement would soon be published in newspapers for the eligible candidates.
SECURITY TIPS:
Implement basic cyberprecautions to prevent your computer or cellphone from being attacked by malicious hackers.
* Download an antivirus software like AVG which is available for free on the internet
* Install a firewall like ZoneAlarm
* Enable two-step authentication feature on gmail
* Do not use the same password for all your accounts and keep changing it on a regular basis