Digital Security

TRAI will start, this month, a pilot to onboard paper-based and past permissions given by customers for receiving commercial communications onto its digital distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform, a process that in the long-run would include scrubbing and verifying their current validity and offering opt-outs to those keen on it, Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said, adding that tighter regulations on curbing spam as well as new consultation examining an authorisation framework for telemarketers can also be expected in coming weeks. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also ruled out any rethink on its latest regulation that mandates service providers to offer separate special tariff vouchers (STV) for voice calls and SMS. Lahoti told PTI in an interview that while consumers can be encouraged to use data, they cannot be "compelled" to do so. TRAI's focus is to protect not only the interest of the industry, but also the interest of the consumer, who must have the option

Concerned over the growing instances of cyber frauds, the finance ministry on Tuesday asked public sector banks (PSBs) to align their digital and cybersecurity frameworks with industry best practices and ensure customer protection and operational continuity as top priorities. During a review meeting chaired by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary M Nagaraju, discussions were held on enhancing the robustness of PSBs, building on recent financial achievements, and addressing strategic challenges with key focus on financial performance indicators, assets and liabilities management, cyber resilience, and digital payments infrastructure. The secretary exhorted the public sector banks (PSBs) to accelerate the pace of lending to agriculture and MSMEs as well as deepen financial inclusion. PSBs were asked to continue strengthening their financial and operational frameworks, particularly in light of the evolving market dynamics and cyber security needs, the finance ministry .

Some legal experts and users in the world's largest internet market have openly doubted the efforts' stated goal of protecting privacy

Three of the world's biggest porn websites face new requirements in the European Union that include verifying the ages of users, the 27-nation bloc said Wednesday, expanding the reach of its digital law designed to keep people safe on the internet. Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat have now been classed as very large online platforms subject to more stringent controls under the Digital Services Act because they have more than 45 million users each, according to the European Commission, the EU's executive branch. The three companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment. They are the first porn sites to be targeted by the sweeping Digital Services Act, which imposes tough obligations to keep users safe from illegal content and dodgy products. Violations are punishable by fines of up to 6% of global revenue or even a ban on operating in the EU. Some 19 online platforms and search engines have already been identified for stricter scrutiny under the DSA, including TikTok, ...

Railways seeks Niti Aayog intervention, citing national security

As hybrid work empowers employees to work from anywhere and ensures business continuity for enterprises, the use of unregistered devices by employees has increased the risk around hybrid work in India

Digital Shakti Campaign, a cybersecurity awareness programme for women, aims to spread awareness among 10 lakh netizens in two years, a senior official of organiser body CyberPeace Foundation said on Tuesday. While launching the 4th phase of the campaign, non-profit and digital think-tank body CyberPeace Foundation's founder and global president Major Vineet Kumar said that the programme aims to skill people around cybersecurity and online safety to help them fight the evils that exists in the cyber space like ransomware, stalking, bullying, sextortion etc. "We look forward to significantly bridging the cybersecurity knowledge gap in India among vulnerable populations and reaching 1 million netizens in the next two years," Kumar said. He said that technology platforms have become the first point of contact for criminals. "We are working with the government to address issues like trafficking. Today the first connection that criminals have is on the tech platforms. Criminals have ...

With 303 vulnerabilities and a cumulative total of 3,159 vulnerabilities as of 2022, a new report said that Google Chrome is the most vulnerable browser available

The report is the outcome of an analysis of more than 1,200 websites and over 12 billion requests that the Indusface AppTrana network received in August-September 2022

Discriminatory algorithms will be the most complex of challenges for regulators

Documents were to be open for public comments till September 21, civil society groups protest 'removal'

Revenue from operations registered a strong growth primarily led by increase in Enterprise Solution business especially in international markets which grew by 140 per cent YoY.

Indian corporates are warning employees against using communication platforms, like WhatsApp. Some European banks have also asked their staff to install the Movius app for all official communications

In a blog post, Google said it would remove location history data about some "particularly personal" places from a Google account shortly after someone visits

India's use of drones to provide essential healthcare services to people living in remote and hard-to-reach areas was showcased at World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting at Davos

According to the report by cybersecurity company Trellix, over half of adversarial advanced persistent threat actor activity originated from Russian and Chinese backed groups

Most surveillance firms operate out of the public eye, and given the sensitive nature of the technology they provide, it is extremely difficult to ascertain who their customers are

Technology to get smarter in new year

The ministry said, it had received many complaints about the misuse of the mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for "stealing and surreptitiously" transmitting users' data

The Indian authorities feared that these apps were transferring consumer data to locations outside the country, especially China, in an unauthorised and surreptitious manner.