Free messaging apps unsafe, claim hackers - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The free text messaging app on your phone can be used to steal your personal information. Sounding this warning, hackers and cyber security professionals have claimed that internet companies can access a mobile user's chat logs and phone data, including location, contacts, mail and much more, through some of these free texting apps. To prove their point, a team of young hackers demonstrated on Sunday how text messages sent through a Chinese free texting app can be decrypted. They said foreign governments could also be using this method to access data for surveillance or spying. The vulnerability of free messaging users was one of several privacy issues that hacking enthusiasts discussed at The Hackers Conference in the capital on Sunday. 'Govt fails to tap potential of hackers despite web attacks' Participants at The Hackers Conference in Delhi on Sunday said the government wasn't utilizing the poten tial of hackers despite its websites increasingly coming under attack. Often considered an underground community, hackers are increasingly becoming part of the mainstream IT industry and contributing as security experts. Some also use their skills for larger good, to investigate government documents and data. At the conference, there were people from all of these categories. "Hacking is like an art which needs skill to master. It is also like science, extremely logical. Today private companies use ethical hackers to make themselves secure. We know of companies that pay hackers more than they spend on developing software," said Kishlay Bharadwaj, 24, a freelance security analyst and organizing member of the conference. Hackers are paid around Rs 1 lakh per month by social networking sites, search engines and software compani es, he said, adding that some of these hackers are just teenagers. Kishlay and Mohit Kumar, 24, another organizing member, said it was about time that the government woke up to the potential of hackers. "The public sector doesn't hire freshers. There is also a misplaced idea that all hackers are criminals. They are just people who are technically sound. There is a 16-year-old hacker who is being paid Rs 4 crore per annum by a leading search engine. The Indian government should understand how important cyber security is," Bharadwaj said. He said it was easy for hackers from other countries to deface central government websites, create fake pages and fake log-in credentials. The Jharkhand police was the first government body to start a process of rewarding people who are able to find loopholes on any website or IT infrastructure of government departments. Dinesh O Bareja, an advisor with Cyber Defence Research Centre, Jharkhand police and state IT department addressed hackers on how the 'bug bounty' system was being used effectively. According to Prabhjot Singh, 28, another organizing member, Indian hackers were increasingly making use of their skills to expose the 'bad' side of governments. "There are many Indians on the group called Anonymous, which is a network of hactivists. Those in 'Op India' of Anonymous are for instance leaking the list of Indian account holders in Swiss banks," Singh said. Edward Snowden, he added, was a role model who showed how leaking data can be for publi c good. "He is great and he should be given an honor for his bravery," adds Prabhjot. Not everyone was so candid at the conference. Said Akshat Singal, 13, the youngest participant and member of the hacking community, "I can't say what I think of Snowden; it's controversial. All these issues about cyber security are controversial. But I like computer security and want to understand it. It affects everyone from a fruit vendor to a businessman. There is a rise in connectivity among people but nothing is safe or unsafe in the virtual world," says Singal who studies in class VII at Modern School, Barakhamba Road. While Singal was probably the only school student at the meet, many other youngsters raised concerns about privacy. Saumya Vishnoi, 25, a security analyst, was appalled at the vulnerability of government's digital data and said there was lack of awareness about violations of privacy on smartphones. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEkGu15zhXCH_olU-qnN2fLx4mBfg&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/services-apps/Free-messaging-apps-unsafe-claim-hackers/articleshow/22057623.cms

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