The Hindu : Biometrics, smart card help curb cyber crime

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 26, 2003

Business

Business

Biometrics, smart card help curb cyber crime

By Preeti Mishra

BANGALORE FEB. 25. Rapid strides in digital technology have led to a spurt in cyber crimes including defamation, tax evasion and fraud. An innocuous visiting card, for instance, with personal information such as email address and phone number provides enough material to perpetuate a cyber crime, including crank calls and posting information on a porn site.

"Even a visiting card is not secure anymore. Use of biometrics and smart cards has curbed the menace of cyber crime to some extent. Cyber forensics is helping to solve cases since the Indian judiciary now accepts digital evidence," Krishna Sastry Pendyala, Computer Forensics Division, Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Government told The Hindu.

Concurs Phani Sharma, President and CEO, Point-of-View Communications. "A normal visiting card does not provide a secure and integrated system anymore. Smart card that already has inbuilt security measures can be improved through biometric technology like fingerprinting, ghost images and digital watermarks which ensures a foolproof system to a large extent". The company is in the process of enhancing its VISA ID card with the aforementioned features. As of now, this product has barcode and signature as part of the card to ensure authentication and verification of the owner.

The Singapore Government even uses smart cards for ensuring authentication of lawyers and court documents. With the use of (Public key) PKI infrastructure, these cards have helped the judiciary to herald a technology court. "There are security issues which have caused a concern to the Government. We have put a legal framework in place to punish hackers and cyber criminals severely," Abdul Hamid Bin Abdullah, VP, Information System Audit and Control Association (ISACA)-U.S., and Deputy Director, Auditor General's Office, Singapore, said.

Meanwhile, the Computer Forensics Division has solved 50 cyber crime cases since its inception in 2001, according to Mr. Pendyala. The Division receives nearly 30-40 cases every month particularly from the Delhi Police, Central Excise Department and the Income-tax Department.

The Division however faces a major crunch due to lack of sufficient software tools that could help the Division to tackle cyber crime cases more efficiently. "It is not possible for us to secure software applications from the U.S.-based firms as they refuse to sell the software due to security concerns," laments Mr. Pendyala.

The Forensics Division is now collaborating with a Thiruvananthapuram-based firm to develop software. The Electronic Data and Research Corporation is in the process of developing and standardising tools similar to Carnivore (a hacker-tracking software, also called snooping tool) for use by the Computer Forensics unit. "We invite private firms to develop password cracker tools and other software," Mr. Pendyala said. This would help the Computer Forensics Division to accelerate its cyber-solving capabilities.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business