Truth Labs releases report on Cybercrime

 Truth Labs has reiterated linkages between the proliferation of cybercrime through the use of pirated and counterfeit software to the breaches in the information, communication and network security that eventually lead to multidimensional risks and threats to Public Safety and National Security. The detailed vulnerability study titled “Piracy and Counterfeit Software: Emerging Risks and Threats to Public Safety and National Security”, launched by Truth Labs, tested 230 samples consisting of 174 in DVD form and 56 as preinstalled products in laptops, which led to a conclusion that different types of malware detected in majority of the samples are susceptible to a wide variety of risks and threats related to Intellectual Property (IP) theft and data leakage, among others.

The report was launched by Dr Gulshan Rai, Director General, CERT- In, in the presence of Dr Gandhi Kaza, Founder Chairman, Truthlabs, in New Delhi.  The report was commissioned by Microsoft India.

As per the report, 65% of the samples were found to have more than one category of malware, which can bring down an entire network and can be misused by hackers to create bots that can attack larger networks including SCADA systems protecting national resources such as Power Grids, Satellite communications. The majority of the malware identified in the samples enabled remote access and control by hackers followed by backdoors and keylogger. Increasing risks were highlighted in the areas of Remote Access, Remote Code Execution and attacks by Trojans and worms, which also forms three major categories of threats found in the samples under study.

Dr Gandhi Kaza, Founder Chairman, Truthlabs, said, “Our study suggests the massive scale at which malware was being distributed through usage of pirated and counterfeit software in India. This urgently calls for a series of measures to preclude impending risks and vulnerabilities to Public Safety and National Security.”

“Cybercriminals exploit every opportunity to make an easy profit by inserting malware onto pirated software which threatens consumers, businesses and governments. Microsoft has been continuously working on combating cybercrime for many years. As part of our focus on fighting this growing hazard, this research was commissioned to demonstrate the connection between cybersecurity, malware and piracy around the world,” said Vipin Aggarwal, Senior Attorney & Director IP, Microsoft.

The research found that indirect security threats also include users or organizations unknowingly becoming part of a larger nexus of anti-social elements funding and supporting illegal activities such as organized crime, money laundering, drug trafficking, cyber terrorism and other related risks and vulnerabilities. Today’s networked environment with global internet connectivity thus has enormous potential to cause damage and destroy the critical infrastructure of any nation or group of nations anywhere across the globe.