Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking global cooperation against cybercrime, said terrorist groups are using technology to radicalize and exploit emerging digital avenues such as the dark web, metaverse and cryptocurrency platforms.
In an exclusive interview with PTI, he said the World Bank estimates that cyber attacks could cost the world about $5.2 trillion (Rs. It is deeply worrying.
He said these could have social and geopolitical implications.
“Cyberterrorism, cyber radicalization, the use of online platforms to divert money from money laundering to drugs and terrorism — it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
Modi said cyberspace has brought a whole new dimension to the fight against illicit financial activities and terrorism.
“Terrorist groups are using technology to radicalize, divert money from money laundering and drugs into terror financing, and exploit emerging digital avenues such as the darknet, metaverse, and cryptocurrency platforms to achieve their nefarious goals,” he said.
The Prime Minister stressed the need to take cyber threats very seriously, saying that one aspect of their adverse impact was the economic damage they caused.
In addition, he said, cyberattacks can also have an impact on the social fabric of the country.
Prime Minister Modi said the spread of “deepfakes” could cause confusion and lose the credibility of news sources. He said fake news and “deep fakes” could be used to fuel social unrest.
“So, it’s a concern for every group, every country, every family. That’s why we’re making this a priority,” he said.
The Prime Minister noted that India hosted a G20 meeting in Gurgaon in July on NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), Artificial Intelligence and Crime and Security in the Metaverse Era.
During the meeting, he said, concerns were raised about malicious cyber activities that violate established norms, principles and rules of cyberspace and international law.
Modi said there was a need for coordination on prevention and mitigation strategies, stressing the need for a comprehensive international convention to combat the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for criminal purposes.
He said that perhaps many fields require global cooperation, but in the field of cyber security, global cooperation is not only desirable but inevitable.
“Because the threat dynamics are distributed — the processor is somewhere, the assets are somewhere else, they communicate through servers hosted by third parties, and their funds may come from completely different regions. Unless all countries in the chain cooperate , otherwise it’s almost impossible,” he said.
At the G20 meeting in July, Union Home Minister Amit Shah warned the international community about security challenges evolving from “dynamite to metaverse” and “hawala to cryptocurrency,” And asked G20 members to go beyond traditional boundaries and share information on safety. Check all crimes in cyberspace in real time.
Shah highlighted the threat posed by cybercriminals utilizing the darknet, metaverse, deepfakes, ransomware and toolkit-based misinformation campaigns and strategic targeting of critical information and financial systems.
According to figures provided by Parliament on December 13, 2022, India reported more than 1.6 million cybercrime incidents in the three years starting 2019 and subsequently registered more than 32,000 FIRs.
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