Karnataka Home Minister G. Parmeshwar informed in the Legislative Assembly that in the last three years, the people of the state lost more than Rs 5474 crore in cyber fraud. This figure is from only one state. If we talk about the whole of India, every day thousands of people are becoming victims of some online fraud, phishing, fake link, OTP or UPI fraud. One thing that comes to light again and again in investigative agencies and international reports is that many big cybercriminal networks are operated from Russia or Russian-speaking countries.
University of Oxford Associate Professor Jonathan Lusthaus and Dr. Miranda Bruce, after joint research, published a report last year, in which Russia has been declared the world leader in cyber fraud. Ukraine is at number two, China at three and America at number four. India is at number 10 in this research. Even though countries have been marked in this ranking, it does not mean at all that the country is involved in this crime. This crime involves the country’s soil and its organized criminal gangs.
In such a situation, the question arises that why is Russia considered to be at the forefront in cyber fraud? Why are technological superpowers like China and America lagging behind Russia? Come, let us understand.
Network of Russian-speaking cyber gangs bigger than Russia
First of all, it is important to make one thing clear that when reports say Russian cyber crime, it does not only mean Russia but also Russian-speaking hacker gangs spread in countries like Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan. These gangs are involved in many types of crimes.
These include ransomware (demanding ransom by encrypting data), card cloning and banking fraud, phishing websites and fake apps, cryptocurrency theft and money laundering and fraud through calls, SMS, emails and social media globally. The tools, malware, or servers used in many major digital frauds taking place in India are found to be linked to this Russian-speaking underground.
Post-Cold War hacking culture and IT talent
Russia and its surrounding countries have a very strong tradition of mathematics, computer science and engineering. Since the Soviet Union, there has been a strong tradition of high level mathematical education, deep knowledge of programming and cryptography, and Olympiads and competitions.
After the Cold War, the economic situation weakened, government jobs decreased, but IT skills did not decrease. The result was that many talented programmers and engineers were faced with the choice of either low-paying legitimate jobs or illegal cyber activities for fast money. This combination of talent and financial pressure became fertile ground for cybercrime.
weak law
Laws against cybercrime exist in Russia and several former Soviet countries, but law enforcement priorities differ according to international reports. Police and agencies often focus more on domestic political or violent crimes. Working for the victims sitting abroad is not their priority. There is also the challenge of jurisdiction. The victim is in another country, the bank is in another country, the server is in a third country, in such a situation the legal action becomes very complicated.
Sometimes a few small criminals are prosecuted, but larger, organized gangs often get away with it, especially if they are considered useful for domestic politics or the national interest. For this reason, cyber gangs feel safe in a way. One of their unspoken conditions is that they should leave the people of the country and do whatever they want in another country.
In a way, Russia-related gangs have developed cyber crime as a service industry.
Russia vs China-America, difference of focus and priority
China and the United States are also very active in cyber activities, but their main focus is often different. China’s emphasis is on cyber espionage, industrial secrets, intellectual property, defense and government information. This happens through government support and centralized control. In such a situation, anarchic criminal gangs are less visible. There are cyber crime gangs in America too, but the laws are enforced very strictly. Government agencies take continuous action.
There is a possibility of immediate action and heavy punishment in case of major digital fraud with American citizens. In contrast, the Russian-speaking cyber underworld has relatively loose controls, a more free market type criminal ecosystem, with tools, data, malware, ransomware kits being bought and sold on the dark web, and private gangs that are not under the control of any government. For this reason, Russia-related networks often appear at the forefront in matters of financial cyber fraud and ransomware.
Dark web markets and the crime-as-a-service model
In a way, Russia-related gangs have developed cyber crime as a service industry. They sell readymade ransomware kits. Provides phishing panels, SMS spoofing, call spoofing tools on rent. There is an international market for stolen card data, identity related data like bank login, passport, Aadhaar etc. Even someone who does not have technical knowledge can start fraud by renting these tools. When a local gang in a country like India commits UPI or banking fraud, the software, malware, or servers they use may be sourced from Russia or the Russian-speaking underground. This means that even if the call does not come directly from Russia, the technology and infrastructure still comes from there.
The language wall hides them further
The Russian language and Cyrillic script make it difficult for Western or Indian cyber researchers to monitor Russian-language forums, chats and dark web sites. Many criminal tools, manuals, training guides are available only in Russian. Due to this language barrier, this underworld remained unknown for a long time and became quite powerful.
Due to cyber fraud being in Russian language, it becomes difficult to catch it.
Its impact on India and Karnataka
Most of Karnataka’s loss of Rs 5474 crore may not be due to fraud committed directly from Russia, but it is certain that the malware, tools, scripts or servers used in the fraud may be connected to foreign, especially Russian-speaking networks. Call center type fraud gangs based in India also take help of foreign networks for money laundering or sale of data. That means local and global cyber underworld are working in collaboration with each other. Part of the money that the common man loses in India ultimately reaches these international networks. In recent years, such networks have also been detected in NCR.
Is all of Russia to blame?
The direct answer to this would be no. Even in Russia, millions of people are working honestly in the field of IT and cyber security. Many Russian experts are contributing to cyber security at the international level. The problem lies primarily with the organized gangs, lax law enforcement and lack of international cooperation that have made this network so powerful.
What can India do?
Nothing will be achieved by merely cursing Russia’s progress. India will have to strengthen its cyber security. Digital safety education right from schools and colleges, awareness campaigns in simple language for the elderly, rural areas and non-technical people, legal framework and swift action, strengthening cyber police stations, increasing international cooperation, especially in matters of data sharing and extradition.
The security of the financial system will also have to be strengthened. Strict security standards will have to be made for banks, UPI, wallet companies. Immediate alerts and automatic block system on suspicious transactions can be helpful. Courses and research on ethical hacking, cyber forensics, threat intelligence should be encouraged. A strong Security Operations Center (SOC) network should be created through private-public partnership.
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