Info-tech

If it’s Govt snooping, there is nowhere to hide

K. V. Kurmanath Hyderabad | Updated on March 12, 2018 Published on July 04, 2013

Cyber security expert Ankit Fadia's new book on online security will include tips on how to send an email in the future, how to fake an incoming call on your mobile phone, block inappropriate Web sites, and remember where you parked your car. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Cyber security expert says there is little protection against State attack

Wondering how to secure your online life after reading spine-chilling reports on how PRISM is snooping on private conversations?

You actually can’t do anything if a government wants to eavesdrop on your phone calls and emails.

“There are actually two layers. At one level, you can secure your email account from private people by having two-step authentication. This will help you keep tabs on attempts to hack into your mail accounts. But when a government wants to do you can do little,” Ankit Fadia, an ethical hacker, told Business Line after releasing his new book here.

Mail service providers such as Google and Yahoo! provide two-step authentication to their users to provide extra layer of security. Users can choose this option and get the second password on their mobile phones or in the alternative mail accounts.

Ankit, a child prodigy who wrote books on hacking and Internet security in early teenage, has just signed a three-book deal with Penguin India. He released the first in this series, Faster – 100 Ways to improve your digital life, here on Wednesday.

This is the 15th book of the 28-year-old Internet security expert, who has trained over 20,000 people in various aspects of Internet security in India and China. He also takes classes for law-enforcing agencies at the State and Central levels. Ankit hosts the programme Geek on the Loose on the YouTube channel run by the company Ping Digital Broadcast. This firm was floated by journalist Govindraj Ethiraj. He also hosts the programme “What the Hack” on MTC, giving tips and tricks in technology and Internet.

On the 312-page new book, Ankit said it gives a host of tips and ideas to enhance people’s digital life. They include how to send an email in the future, how to fake an incoming call on your mobile phone, block inappropriate Web sites from your kids and remember where you parked your car.

His next book would be fiction. “Obviously, the theme and characters would revolve around Internet, technology and security,” he quips.

>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in