Beware of the most common cyber crime - cyber stalking

Courtesy: For a detailed report, please visit the following link:
http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2007/01/31/cyber-stalking/

Cyberstalking is on the rise and women, senior citizens and children are the most likely targets. As more and more people become computer savvy, the population of cyber stalkers is imitating real life.

Cyber crimes in India are slowly evolving from a simple e-mail crime (sending obscene materials over e-mail) to more serious crimes like hacking and source code theft. …there are also cases involving sending obscene e-mails to women colleagues from their male counterparts…usually such messages are sent out from cyber cafes. However, with the help of internet service providers, the police can trace where these mails have been sent from.

Its best to take some advice from experts:
1) No to sharing personal information online
2) No to filling out profiles on websites
3) No to using gender specific or provocative screen names or e-mail addresses
4) No to flirting or arguing online
5) No to sharing your passwords
6) Yes to setting up a special e-mail address for cyber contact
7) Yes to a good anti-virus program
8. No to replying to cyberstalkers
9) Yes to saving all communications on your computer
10) And yes to reporting cyberstalking to the police! Its a grave matter, so take it as such

Here are some important addresses and telephone numbers.

CBI Cyber Crime Cell: Cyber Crime Investigation Cell Central Bureau of Investigation, 5th Floor, Block No.3, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 3, Phone: 4362203, 4392424 : EMail: cbiccic@bol.net.in. Web: CBI.nic.in

Bangalore for the Whole of Karnataka
Cyber Crime Police Station. C.O.D Headquarters, Carlton House,
# 1, Palace Road, Bangalore - 560 001. 22201026/22943050
2387611 (FAX)
ccps@kar.nic.in
Cyberpolicebangalore.nic.in

Chennai for Rest of Tamil Nadu
Cyber Crime Cell. CB, CID
Chennai. 98414-22844
venmathi_vip@yahoo.co.in

Chennai
Assistant Comissioner of Police
Cyber Crime Cell
Commissioner office Campus
Egmore, Chennai- 600008. 55498211
Mobile: 98410-13541
Res: 25500503.
cyberac@rediffmail.com

Mumbai Police:Cybercellmumbai.com
Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (Crime Branch, C.I.D), Annex-III Building, Police Commissioner Office, Crawford Market, Mumbai. 22630829/22641261
officer@cybercellmumbai.com

Mumbai Cyber Lab:Mumbaicyberlab.org

Delhi Police: Delhipolice.nic.in

Chandigarh Police:Chandigarhpolice.nic.in

Assam Police:Assampolice.com

Haryana Police:Haryanapolice.nic.in

Himachal Pradesh Police:Hppolice.nic.in

Hyderabad: Crime Investigation Department, 3rd Floor, D.G.P. Office, Lakdikapool, Hyderabad-500004
23240663, 27852274, 23297474 (Fax)
cidap@cidap.gov.in
info@cidap.gov.in
Cidap.gov.in/cybercrimes.aspx

Hacked: Email inboxes of Indian missions in US and China; NDA, DRDO officials too

Taking a dig at cyber security preparedness levels, a hacker, who claims to be based in Sweden, posted online on the evening of August 30,2007 the passwords of 100 email accounts of embassies and government offices across the world, including 13 Indian accounts, containing classified information and correspondence.

Top on the list of passwords that have been posted on http://derangedsecurity.com give access to email accounts of Indian Ambassadors to China, US, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Oman, Finland besides officials of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Other accounts include those of the embassies of Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Japan, China, UK and Russia.

To check the authenticity, The Indian Express sent a test mail to the Indian Ambassador in China on her official email ID and, using the password posted online, was able to access it. The email account of the Indian Ambassador to China contained details of a visit by Rajya Sabha member Arjun Sengupta to Beijing earlier this month for an ILO conference. There was also a transcript of a meeting this evening which a senior Indian official had with the Chinese Foreign Minister.

Similarly, accounts of NDA and DRDO officials reveal phone numbers, commercial documents, official correspondence and personal mails. The account of the Indian embassy in Germany contains a query by two IIM (Calcutta) students about safety in the wake of recent racial abuse cases in West Germany.

While it remains unclear how the passwords were accessed by the hacker — he has posted his name on the website as Dan Egerstad from Malmo in Sweden and even gave contact details — Indian experts said that loopholes in POP (post office protocol) mail servers could have been exploited to gain access.

“A POP server that had not been updated for security could have been exploited by the hacker to get usernames and passwords,” said a cyber security expert who did not wish to be named.