Indian techies arrested in bank hacking case

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://hongkong1.cnet.com/news/2001/01/29/20010129g.html

By Bloomberg, Singapore.CNET.com
Monday, January 29 2001 6:26:16 AM

NEW DELHI--Two Indian computer trainers were arrested earlier this
month for allegedly trying to hack into the computers of the State
Bank of India, the country's biggest commercial bank, and other state
agencies, police said.

Manoj Singhania, head of the local branch of Aptech, an Indian
computer training company, and Prakash Yadav, in charge of training,
were arrested January 11. Both are residents of Raigarh in
Chhattisgarh state, about 1,100 kilometers from New Delhi.

The suspects allegedly sent emails in the name of Microsoft and Videsh
Sanchar Nigam, India's monopoly overseas phone service provider,
containing a file named Speed.exe. When opened, it sent emails back to
the accused giving them passwords and other data, said Shailesh
Agrawal, who runs an Internet equipment shop and received the email.

The arrest is the first under the nation's Information Technology Act,
which came into force in October last year. Under the law, anyone
found guilty of hacking can face up to three years in jail and
US$4,300 (200,000 rupees) in fines.

Still, lawyers say the accused may not get sentenced, because Indian
police and the judiciary aren't trained to handle cyber crimes. The
two suspects were released on bail after five days because lawyers and
judges in the provincial court could not fully understand the nature
of the crime, lawyers said.

"The problem is also how do you retain electronic evidence for trial,
particularly when very few police stations and courts have computers,"
said Pavan Duggal, a lawyer working for India's Supreme Court. "The
police and the judiciary are also not attuned to the nature of cyber
crime."

Raigarh police have almost finished their investigation and hope to
take the matter to court soon. It could, however, take almost a year
for the trial to end, said GP Singh, Raigarh's police chief.

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