The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeITY) is coming up with an app that will clean up malware—a software specifically designed to disrupt or damage a computer system. "Consumers can download this free app on any of their devices—laptops, smartphones or tablets, and it will help in cleaning up the malware," said IT secretary Aruna Sundararajan, in an interaction with THE WEEK.
CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) that comes under MeITY is working on the app, which is expected to be launched shortly.
The ministry is also working on a Botnet system—an IT tool that will check telecom networks and inform internet service providers about the possibility of a bot in the system. Steps are being taken to ramp up cyber security in the country in the wake of government's cashless drive. IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed on Wednesday that a separate section for digital payments had been created at CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team).
Approximately 94,344 unique users were attacked by mobile ransomware last year in comparison to 18, 478 users in 2014.
The Annual Mobile Virusology (AMV) report by the Kaspersky Lab anti-malware research group, showed that a whopping 884,774 new malicious software programs were detected in 2015—a three-fold increase from 2014.
Among all the malwares, ransomwares—malwares capable of obtaining unlimited rights on an infected device, and data stealers—proved to be the most dangerous threats .
The research report said: “Once a device is infected with this type of malware, the malicious app blocks the device with a pop-up window carrying a message that the user has committed illegal actions. In order to unlock the device the user has to pay a ransom ranging between $12 and $100.”
