27 July 2016

Army's cyber warriors battle Pakistani, Chinese hacker groups

July 21, 2016

India is increasingly facing a threat from an army of hostile hackers operating from countries like China and Pakistan.

1India is facing a threat from hostile hackers operating from China and Pakistan. 

2Indian Army has created two units under Military Intelligence to tackle this. 

3The staffers of these units will be youngsters with an aptitude for tech. 

Amid all the bullets and bloodshed on the borders, there is a silent war on in 'Cyberia'. 

India is increasingly facing a threat from an army of hostile hackers operating from countries like China and Pakistan. To counter this cyber offensive, the Indian Army has created two separate units under Military Intelligence whose job is to tackle this hi-tech warfare. 

Here's all you need to know about how India is waging a two-pronged cyber war:

Several attempts have been made to steal classified information from military installations by Chinese and Pakistani hacker groups. 

The Army tried to launch counter offensives by using units from the Corps of Signals.However, these units didn't have a high success rate. 

The Army has now created two separate units under Military Intelligence staffed by signal officers to launch cyber warfare against Pakistan and China. 

One unit Field Surveillance Unit (IFSU-1) has been created under the Army Headquarters while the other one (IFSU-2) has been raised in the Northeastern sector. 

"We are keeping the exact location of the unit secret for reasons of national security," officials said. 

The staffers of these units will primarily be youngsters with an aptitude for tech and programming. "Basically, tech geeks wearing olive greens," an officer said. 

The two units have already been involved in counter-hacking operations and have helped in nabbing or locating hackers both in India and abroad. 

"There have been cyber-attacks on some isolated Internet connections of defence personnel. However, all computers employed for official work by defence forces are comprehensively isolated from the internet to obviate any breach," defence ministerManohar Parrikar told Parliament recently. 

India is not the only target of Chinese hackers. In 2015, a massive breach of the US Office of Personnel Management's databases by Chinese cyber spies led to the pilfering of personal files of 21 million Americans 

A Chinese businessman pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to hack computer networks of US defence contractors and obtain sensitive data on military aircraft that was passed on to China.

No comments: