Cyber Swachhta Kendra – A Digital India Initiative for a Secure Cyber Ecosystem

The Government of India recently launched an ambitious project called Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) – a Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Center. Developed under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), this center will be operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Developed as an essential part of the Digital India initiative to secure the cyber ecosystem of the country, CSK has been set up to analyze botnet infections, notify affected users, help them clean such infections, and prevent such incidences in the future. As we read further, we will get to know about Botnets in detail. Its website offers a number of security tools – one of which is a Botnet Removal Tool – developed in collaboration with Quick Heal Technologies. The Kendra has also worked with renowned R&D organizations such as Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for making other relevant security tools available to its users. These tools are free to use and can be downloaded from here – https://goo.gl/R8wkTU This article discusses botnet infections, what are its damaging effects, how can they be controlled, and how CSK is playing a crucial role in protecting India’s citizens from such threats. First, let’s demystify a few misconceptions Myth 1. The Government of India is providing free antivirus and because of this users do not require an antivirus The Fact – What the Government is offering are a few security tools that solve a specific purpose when used. These tools are free but they are not a replacement for an antivirus software. For instance, one of these tools is called USB Pratirodh – a software to help desktop users control the usage of USB storage devices. Myth 2. The Botnet Removal Tool by Quick Heal is a free antivirus software The Fact – This tool only helps users remove botnet infections from their computer. It is not a replacement for an antivirus software as it does not give protection against malware, viruses, online threats, and attackers. Myth 3. Quick Heal solutions are now free The Fact – Quick Heal has only developed the Botnet Removal Tool in close collaboration with CSK, and this tool is available for all users without any cost. The CSK launch is a highly applaudable move by the Government of India and comes as a welcoming relief to all our digitally enabled citizens who are vulnerable to cyberattacks – particularly now, when we are turning towards digital payments post the demonetization effect. And to understand how helpful this move is not only for common users but security researchers like us, we need to understand what is botnet and how harmful it is. What is a botnet infection? A group of computers controlled by cybercriminals (bots) to spread malware and launch other malicious attacks on their targets is called a botnet. A botnet infection is when your computer becomes a part of this botnet. Individual bots can be weak; botnets, however, can be extremely damaging. How can your computer be bot-infected? Attackers can make your computer a part of their botnet by infecting it with something called a ‘bot code’. They can drop this code onto your computer by sending you emails containing malicious links or attachments, fake social media posts, or exploiting existing security vulnerabilities on your system. How Botnets harm individual users and businesses Because botnets are made up of several computers, they can be heavily misused by attackers against their victims. Some common uses of botnets include: Launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on government websites. What happens here is, thousands of computers bombard a website at the same time causing it to go down or become unreachable to its intended users. Sending spam emails to users in order to trick them into revealing confidential information such as personal or banking details. Stealing information from the infected PCs for use or resale (such as credit card or banking information). Distributing other malware like ransomware, keyloggers, spyware, etc., to a large number of users. Causing major financial or strategic loss to a targeted nation. Wiping out Botnet Infections is a Mission Botnet infections are increasing across the world. Earlier, the main motivation of botnet controllers could have been curiosity or joy…