#FactCheck - Viral Videos of Mutated Animals Debunked as AI-Generated

Introduction

With the increasing reliance on digital technologies in the banking industry, cyber threats have become a significant concern. Cyberlaw plays a crucial role in safeguarding the banking sector from cybercrimes and ensuring the security and integrity of financial systems.

The banking industry has witnessed a rapid digital transformation, enabling convenient services and greater access to financial resources. However, this digitalisation also exposes the industry to cyber threats, necessitating the formulation and implementation of effective cyber law frameworks.

Recent Trends in the Banking Industry

Digital Transformation: The banking industry has embraced digital technologies, such as mobile banking, internet banking, and financial apps, to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.

Open Banking: The concept of open banking has gained prominence, enabling data sharing between banks and third-party service providers, which introduces new cyber risks.

How Cyber Law Helps the Banking Sector

The banking sector and cyber crime share an unspoken synergy due to the mass digitisation of banking services. Thanks to QR codes, UPI and online banking payments, India is now home to 40% of global online banking transactions. Some critical aspects of the cyber law and banking sector are as follows:

Data Protection: Cyberlaw mandates banks to implement robust data protection measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits, to safeguard customer data.

Incident Response and Reporting: Cyberlaw requires banks to establish incident response plans, promptly report cyber incidents to regulatory authorities, and cooperate in investigations.

Customer Protection: Cyberlaw enforces regulations related to online banking fraud, identity theft, and unauthorised transactions, ensuring that customers are protected from cybercrimes.

Legal Framework: Cyberlaw provides a legal foundation for digitalisation in the banking sector, assuring customers that regulations protect their digital transactions and data.

Cybersecurity Training and Awareness: Cyberlaw encourages banks to conduct regular training programs and create awareness among employees and customers about cyber threats, safe digital practices, and reporting procedures.

RBI Guidelines

The RBI, as India’s central banking institution, has issued comprehensive guidelines to enhance cyber resilience in the banking industry. These guidelines address various aspects, including:

Technology Risk Management

Cyber Security Framework

IT Governance

Cyber Crisis Management Plan

Incident Reporting and Response

Recent Trends in Banking Sector Frauds and the Role of Cyber Law

Phishing Attacks: Cyberlaw helps banks combat phishing attacks by imposing penalties on perpetrators and mandating preventive measures like two-factor authentication.

Insider Threats: Cyberlaw regulations emphasise the need for stringent access controls, employee background checks, and legal consequences for insiders involved in fraudulent activities.

Ransomware Attacks: Cyberlaw frameworks assist banks in dealing with ransomware attacks by enabling legal actions against hackers and promoting preventive measures, such as regular software updates and data backups.

Master Directions on Cyber Resilience and Digital Payment Security Controls for Payment System Operators (PSOs)

Draft of Master Directions on Cyber Resilience and Digital Payment Security Controls for Payment System Operators (PSOs) issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The directions provide guidelines and requirements for PSOs to improve the safety and security of their payment systems, with a focus on cyber resilience. These guidelines for PSOs include mobile payment service providers like Paytm or digital wallet payment platforms.

Here are the highlights-

The Directions aim to improve the safety and security of payment systems operated by PSOs by providing a framework for overall information security preparedness, with an emphasis on cyber resilience.

The Directions apply to all authorised non-bank PSOs.

PSOs must ensure adherence to these Directions by unregulated entities in their digital payments ecosystem, such as payment gateways, third-party service providers, vendors, and merchants.

The PSO’s Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring adequate oversight over information security risks, including cyber risk and cyber resilience. A sub-committee of the Board may be delegated with primary oversight responsibilities.

PSOs must formulate a Board-approved Information Security (IS) policy that covers roles and responsibilities, measures to identify and manage cyber security risks, training and awareness programs, and more.

PSOs should have a distinct Board-approved Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP) to detect, contain, respond, and recover from cyber threats and attacks.

A senior-level executive, such as a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), should be responsible for implementing the IS policy and the cyber resilience framework and assessing the overall information security posture of the PSO.

PSOs need to define Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to identify potential risk events and assess the effectiveness of security controls. The sub-committee of the Board is responsible for monitoring these indicators.

PSOs should conduct a cyber risk assessment when launching new products, services, technologies, or significant changes to existing infrastructure or processes.

PSOs, including inventory management, identity and access management, network security, application security life cycle, security testing, vendor risk management, data security, patch and change management life cycle, incident response, business continuity planning, API security, employee awareness and training, and other security measures should implement various baseline information security measures and controls.

PSOs should ensure that payment transactions involving debit to accounts conducted electronically are permitted only through multi-factor authentication, except where explicitly permitted/relaxed.

Conclusion

The relationship between cyber law and the banking industry is crucial in ensuring a secure and trusted digital environment. Recent trends indicate that cyber threats are evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Compliance with cyber law provisions and adherence to guidelines such as those provided by the RBI is essential for banks to protect themselves and their customers from cybercrimes. By embracing robust cyber law frameworks, the banking industry can foster a resilient ecosystem that enables innovation while safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders or users.

Introduction

In today's digital age protecting your personal information is of utmost importance. The bad actors are constantly on the lookout for ways to misuse your sensitive or personal data. The Aadhaar card is a crucial document that is utilised by all of us for various aspects. It is considered your official government-verified ID and is used for various purposes such as for verification purposes, KYC purposes, and even for financial transactions. Your Aadhaar card is used in so many ways such as flight tickets booked by travel agents, check-in in hotels, verification at educational institutions and more. The bad actors can target and lure the victims by unauthorized access to your Aadhaar data and commit cyber frauds such as identity theft, unauthorized access, and financial fraud. Hence it is significantly important to protect your personal information and Aadhaar card details and prevent the misuse of your personal information.

What is fingerprint cloning?

Cybercrooks have been exploiting the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS). These scams entail cloning individuals' Aadhaar-linked biometrics through silicon fingerprints and unauthorized biometric devices, subsequently siphoning money from their bank accounts. Fingerprint cloning also known as fingerprint spoofing is a technique or a method where an individual tries to replicate someone else's fingerprint for unauthorized use. This is done for various reasons, including gaining unauthorized access to data, unlocking data or committing identity theft. The process of fingerprint cloning includes collection and creation.

The recent case of Aadhaar Card fingerprint cloning in Nawada

Nawada Cyber Police unit has arrested two perpetrators who were engaged in fingerprint cloning fraud.  The criminals are accused of duping consumers of money from their bank accounts by cloning their fingerprints. Among the two perpetrators, one of them runs the Common Service Centre (CSC) whereas the second is a sweeper at the DBGB branch bank. The criminals are accused of duping consumers of money from their bank accounts by cloning their fingerprints. According to the police, an organized gang of cyber criminals had been defrauding the consumers for the last two years with the help of a CSC operator and were embezzling money from the accounts of consumers by cloning their fingerprints and taking Aadhaar numbers. The operator used to collect the Aadhaar number from the consumers by putting their thumb impression on a register. Among these two perpetrators, one was accused of withdrawing more money from the consumer's account and making less payment and sometimes not making the payment after withdrawing the money. Whereas the second perpetrator stole the data of consumers from the DBGB branch bank and prepared their fingerprint clone. During the investigation of a case related to fraud, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Cyber ​​Police conducted raids in Govindpur and Roh police station areas on the basis of technical surveillance and available evidence and arrested them. 

Safety measures for the security of your Aadhaar Card data

• Locking your biometrics: One way to save your Aadhaar card and prevent unauthorized access is by locking your biometrics. To lock & unlock your Aadhaar biometrics you can visit the official website of UIDAI or its official portal. So go to UIDAI’s and select the “Lock/Unlock Biometrics” from the Aadhar service section. Then enter the 12-digit Aadhaar number and security code and click on the OTP option.  An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number with Aadhaar.  Once the OTP is received enter the OTP and click on the login button that will allow you to lock your biometrics.  Enter the 4-digit security code mentioned on the screen and click on the “Enable” button. Your biometrics will be locked and you will have to unblock them in case you want to access them again. The official website of UIDAI is “https://uidai.gov.in/” and there is a dedicated Aadhar helpline 1947. 
• Use masked Aadhaar Card: A masked Aadhaar card is a different rendition of an Aadhaar card that is designed to amplify the privacy and security of an individual Aadhaar number.  In a masked Aadhaar card, the first eight digits of the twelve digits Aadhaar number are replaced by XXXX- XXXX and only the last four digits are visible.  This adds an additional layer of protection to an individual Aadhaar’s number. To download a masked Aadhaar card you visit the government website of UIDAI and on the UIDAI homepage, you will see a "Download Aadhaar" option. Click on it.  In the next step, you will be required to enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number along with the security code displayed on the screen.  After entering your Aadhaar number, click on the Send OTP. You will receive an OTP on your registered phone number. Enter the OTP received in the provided field and click on the “Submit” button.  You will be asked to select the format of your Aadhaar card, You can choose the masked Aadhaar card option. This will replace the first eight digits of your Aadhaar number with "XXXX-XXXX" on the downloaded Aadhaar card. Once the format is selected, click on the “Download Aadhaar” button and your masked Aadhaar card will be downloaded. So if any organisation requires your Aadhaar for verification you can share your masked Aadhar card which only shows the last 4 digits of your Aadhaar card number. Just the way you keep your bank details safe you should also keep your Aadhaar number secure otherwise people can misuse your identity and use it for fraud. 
• Monitoring your bank account transactions: Regularly monitor your bank account statements for any suspicious activity and you can also configure transaction alerts with your bank account transactions.

Conclusion: 

It is important to secure your Aadhaar card data effectively. The valuable security measure option of locking biometrics provides an additional layer of security. It safeguards your identity from potential scammers. By locking your biometrics you can secure your biometric data and other personal information preventing unauthorized access and any misuse of your Aadhaar card data. In today's evolving digital landscape protecting your personal information is of utmost importance. The cyber hygiene practices, safety and security measures must be adopted by all of us hence establishing cyber peace and harmonizing cyberspace. 

References:

• https://www.livehindustan.com/bihar/story-cyber-crime-csc-operator-and-bank-sweeper-arrested-in-nawada-cheating-by-cloning-finger-prints-8913667.html
• https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/cloning-fingerprints-fake-shell-entities-is-your-aadhaar-as-safe-as-you-may-think-2398596-2023-06-27

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Executive Summary:
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A social media video claims that India's Udhampur Air Force Station was destroyed by Pakistan's JF-17 fighter jets. According to official sources, the Udhampur base is still fully operational, and our research proves that the video was produced by artificial intelligence. The growing problem of AI-driven disinformation in the digital age is highlighted by this incident.

Claim:
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A viral video alleges that Pakistan's JF-17 fighter jets successfully destroyed the Udhampur Air Force Base in India. The footage shows aircraft engulfed in flames, accompanied by narration claiming the base's destruction during recent cross-border hostilities.

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Fact Check :
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The Udhampur Air Force Station was destroyed by Pakistani JF-17 fighter jets, according to a recent viral video that has been shown to be completely untrue. The audio and visuals in the video have been conclusively identified as AI-generated based on a thorough analysis using AI detection tools such as Hive Moderation. The footage was found to contain synthetic elements by Hive Moderation, confirming that the images were altered to deceive viewers. Further undermining the untrue claims in the video is the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of India, which has clearly declared that the Udhampur Airbase is still fully operational and has not been the scene of any such attack.

Our analysis of recent disinformation campaigns highlights the growing concern that AI-generated content is being weaponized to spread misinformation and incite panic, which is highlighted by the purposeful misattribution of the video to a military attack.


Conclusion:
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It is untrue that the Udhampur Air Force Station was destroyed by Pakistan's JF-17 fighter jets. This claim is supported by an AI-generated video that presents irrelevant footage incorrectly. The Udhampur base is still intact and fully functional, according to official sources. This incident emphasizes how crucial it is to confirm information from reliable sources, particularly during periods of elevated geopolitical tension.

• Claim: Recent video footage shows destruction caused by Pakistani jets at the Udhampur Airbase.
• Claimed On: Social Media
• Fact Check: False and Misleading

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