23 August,2011 07:35 AM IST | | Shashank Shekhar
Hackers are developing malware, viruses linked to keywords Anna, Corruption and Jan Lokpal Bill
Fighting for corruption online can up the chances of your computer getting corrupted. According to cyber crime experts, underground hackers' community is busy developing malicious links on keywords such as Anna Hazare, corruption and Jan Lokpal Bill.
Tuning in:u00a0 Musician Kailash Kher with Anna Hazare at Ramlila Maidan,
in New Delhi on Monday. PIC/Imtiyaz Khan
The volume of traffic that the India Against Corruption website is attracting has increased by 250 per cent and the any keyword related to Jan Lokpal Bill is on the top of search trends for the last 15 days. "We have noticed some malicious links and spam making rounds on the Internet. This is because the whole nation is talking about the Lokpal Bill and searching content related to it. Even social networking websites are full of updates on Anna. So hackers are cashing on the mass movement for their benefit," said Pankaj Vohra, a Delhi-based ethical hacker.
Many experts, however, also say that 'patriotic' underground hackers have decided not to attack the users. "Ever since Anna started fasting at Jantar Mantar, netizens started searching about him on the Web. If Indian hackers wanted to write a spam or malicious link, they would have done that earlier. Except for a few, the hackers are not attacking users. Recently, we noticed the activity of a hacker group, Anonymous, self-proclaimed online activists (or hacktivists). They claimed to have hacked the website of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) on June 6," said underground hacker, who is known as DArkCirkle.
Also, a hacker group, ZCompany Hacking Crew, claimed to have hacked many Indian websites on August 15. The hacking group wrote on www.blog.co.in: "Stand for Anna Hazare for Truth and End Corruption" after they hacked it. Reports say the number of blogs hosted by the hacked website is 78,000. The hackers have also posted pro-Independence slogans in favour of Kashmir and Palestine. A graphic of a veiled youth with catapult has also been posted on official websites.