"Terrorists Using Dark Net To Spread Radical Material": Amit Shah At G20

The minister also warned of cyber-attack threat which he said is hovering over all the major economies of the world and "many countries of the world have become victims of it"

  

Amit Shah also warned of the risk of cyber-attacks

Gurugram: 

At the two-day G-20 Conference in Gurugram on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed concern about terrorists utilizing the dark web to conceal their identities and disseminate extremist information. He said that we may discover answers by figuring out the patterns of these actions.

The minister also issued a warning about the threat of cyberattack, which he claimed was looming over all of the world's main economies and that "many countries of the world have become victims of it."

Amit Shah stated that in order to build a "robust and efficient operational system," "we have to understand the pattern of these activities running on the dark net and find solutions for the same." Terrorists use the dark web to conceal their identities and propagate extreme literature.

The Home Minister also emphasized the necessity for logical reasoning in order to strictly enforce laws against the usage of various virtual assets.

Mr. Shah further stated, "The Metaverse, once a science fiction concept, has now stepped into the real world," when speaking at the G20 Conference on Crime and Security in the Age of the Non-Fungible Token (NFT), Artificial Intelligence (Al), and Metaverse.

According to him, terrorist organizations may have access to new channels for recruitment, training, and propaganda thanks to the metaverse.

This will make it simpler for terrorist groups to choose and target weak targets and create materials that take advantage of their weaknesses.

"Deep fakes," also known as real impersonations of a user's identity, are made possible by the metaverse.Criminals will be able to impersonate users and steal their identities using improved biometric information about each person, Mr. Shah added.

The minister also emphasized how cybercriminals are involved in instances ranging from ransomware attacks, the selling of sensitive personal information, online harassment, and child abuse to false news and misinformation campaigns with "toolkits."

The Union Home Minister also noted a rising propensity to deliberately target vital financial and informational infrastructures.

Such acts are of national significance because they directly affect law and order, the economy, and national security. Amit Shah stated, "If such crimes and criminals are to be stopped, then we must think and act by transcending the traditional geographic boundaries.

"In digital warfare, our capacity to act online rather than our physical resources is the target. Even a 10-minute interruption to the web network can be catastrophic.

Mr. Shah noted that all governments today are encouraging the use of digital tools for public welfare and governance, and that this movement requires that individuals have faith in these platforms.

The "legitimacy and sovereignty" of the nation-state are also called into question by the lack of security in the digital sphere. While giving advice, Amit Shah stated, "Our internet vision should neither be one of excessive freedom threatening the very existence of our nations nor one of isolationist structures such as digital firewalls."

When discussing the threat of cyberattacks that loom over all of the world's main economies, Mr. Shah quoted a World Bank estimate that "cyber-attacks could have caused losses of around $5.2 trillion to the world during the years 2019-2023."

He added that the usage of cryptocurrency by nefarious threat actors makes detection and prevention much more difficult.

Under Prime Minister Modi's direction, the Indian government has worked to develop a unified cyber strategy, real-time reporting of cybercrimes, building LEAs' capacity, designing analytical tools and establishing a national network of forensic laboratories, as well as ensuring cyber hygiene and promoting cyberawareness among all citizens. All of the nation's police stations have the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) in place, according to Mr. Shah.

He added that the Indian Cyber-Crime Coordination Center (14C) was established by the Indian government to ensure a thorough response to cybercrime.