Amid tensions between India and Pakistan, the digital world hasn’t been spared, and cybersecurity risks remain high. The Cyber Crime Wing of Chennai has issued a press release alerting citizens about the elevated risk of cyber-attacks, particularly from ‘State-sponsored advanced persistent threats’, known for targeting Indian government agencies, military personnel, and critical infrastructure.

The perpetrators have been found to use sophisticated tactics such as phishing emails, fake login pages, and malicious attachments to gain unauthorised access to sensitive information.

Realising heightened interest among public about the situation at the frontline, threat actors are exploiting this to target unsuspecting individuals with malware, disguised as exclusive updates, conflict-related visuals and leaked footage. Such content can be in the form of links or even photographs sent from unknown numbers or forwarded in WhatsApp/ Telegram/ other social media groups.

The websites associated with these links are designed to look like legitimate news or government sources but are in fact phishing websites that steal personal data or lock phones with ransomware. Apart from links, images and videos, cyber criminals also circulate .apk files to download apps that could be labelled ‘Live war updates’, for instance.

Dos and don’ts

The Cyber Crime Wing’s first advice to citizens is to not open unknown image/ video files and not click on links, even if received from someone trustworthy. Equally important is to not forward such content to any person or group.

Further, users of WhatsApp can disable ‘Media auto download’ option found under ‘Storage and Data’ settings. This will prevent automatic download of media without the user’s knowledge. Two-factor authentication for WhatsApp and e-mail is also advised.

In the unfortunate event of having fallen prey to any of such scams, public can seek help by dialling cyber helpline number 1930 or by registering a complaint at www.cybercrime.gov.in.

Published on May 9, 2025