WhatsApp Pay may put Indian digital banking at risk: Experts

Agencies
November 8, 2019

After WhatsApp accounts of 121 Indians were compromised by the Israeli spyware Pegasus, experts have warned that the payment feature the Facebook-owned platform is planning to launch in India may put the digital banking system at risk.

"WhatsApp payment needs to be seen with microscopic eye, primarily because in payment you will be dealing with sensitive personal data and cyber security is going to be an essential building block component for WhatsApp to demonstrate its due diligence," Pavan Duggal, one of the nation's top cyber law experts, told IANS.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has already expressed dissatisfaction over the manner WhatsApp communicated about the compromised accounts.

The piece of NSO Group software called Pegasus allegedly exploited WhatsApp's video calling system by installing the spyware via missed calls to snoop on 1,400 users globally. The devices were compromised with just a WhatsApp video call.

In May, WhatsApp, which has 400 million users in India, urged its 1.5 billion global users to upgrade the app after discovering the vulnerability.

"WhatsApp's recent operations have shown that it's difficult for the government to get information from it. WhatsApp is an intermediary under the Information Technology Act and is mandated to exercise due diligence under the law. But it has failed to do due diligence," Duggal said.

"You should not be in a hurry to grant new licences or permission to WhatsApp without being satisfied with its adherence to cyber-security norms, international best practices and Indian laws," he said.

The Facebook-owned company is learnt to have countered the government charge that it didn't inform it about a privacy breach on the messaging platform. WhatsApp didn't even comply with the data breach notification law in India, Duggal said.

"It (WhatsApp) didn't follow reasonable security practices as mandated in Section 43A of the IT Act, 2000. In fact, it abetted the crime of un-authorised access too. Granting WhatsApp pay licence should be given a second thought by the Reserve Bank of India," said Prashant Mali, cyber lawyer at Bombay High Court.

In light of the recent hack, the government, the RBI and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is reportedly evaluating the risk of allowing social media apps into the digital payment ecosystem.

"With the government, the RBI and the NPCI planning to evaluate the risks involved in making payments via social media apps and services, the security of the UPI payment infrastructure on WhatsApp Pay has been rendered under a cloud of vulnerability," said Salman Waris, Managing Partner at TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors, a law firm.

The RBI revealed in an affidavit in the Supreme Court earlier that WhatsApp had not complied with the data localisation norms. In an April 2018 circular, the RBI stated that the data of any payment banking system have to physically located in India.

"The history of WhatsApp has shown that it's not cooperative with the government in sharing of information. If financial information is compromised, it will not only have an impact on users, but it can also have an impact on the sovereignty and security of India," Duggal said.

The government must go slow till the time WhatsApp demonstrates compliance to Indian law and showed that the platform was secure, he said.

"Because almost every phone user in India is on WhatsApp, it's all the more important for the government and the RBI to ensure that WhatsApp not only complies with the parametres of cyber security and data localisation norms, but also the IT Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

"If WhatsApp doesn't comply with the data localisation norms, rules and regulations of the IT Act, then there is no question of granting new permission," Duggal said.

In a statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson said that safety and security of users remains the platform's highest priority.

"In May, our security team caught and stopped a cyber attack designed to send malware to mobile devices. Unable to break end-to-end encryption, this kind of malware abuses vulnerabilities within the underlying operating systems that power our mobile phones," the WhatsApp spokesperson said.

"Technology companies are constantly working to stay ahead of these kind of challenges through updates and patches. The safety and security of our users remains our highest priority, which is why in May we blocked the attack and have taken action in the courts to hold NSO accountable," the statement added.

Facebook filed a lawsuit against Israel's NSO Group last month. According to Facebook, the NSO Group violated laws, including the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

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News Network
November 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 17,2024

Mangaluru: District-in-Charge Minister and Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, announced that a day-care chemotherapy centre will soon be established at District Wenlock Hospital. Speaking to mediapersons after reviewing the activities at Wenlock and Government Lady Goschen Hospital, he shared the government’s plans to enhance healthcare services in the region.

Key Initiatives Announced

•    Day-Care Chemotherapy Centre:

  • Ten beds will be reserved for cancer patients.
  • The government will collaborate with Yenepoya Hospital to provide chemotherapy treatments.
  • All required facilities for the centre are already in place, awaiting inauguration by the Chief Minister.

•    Wenlock Hospital Facelift:

  • Critical Care Block: To be built at a cost of ₹24 crore.
  • Integrated Public Health (IPH) Lab: Planned with a budget of ₹1 crore.
  • New OPD Block: As per a 2017 agreement, KMC Hospital will take up construction. Discussions with KMC management are underway.

•    Additional Requirements:

  • A new mortuary and post-mortem building.
  • Paramedical college building.
  • Modern kitchen.
  • Bridge connecting two buildings within the hospital.

•    Total facelift cost: ₹6 crore to ₹10 crore, utilizing funds from the Department of Health and Family Welfare and CSR contributions.

•    Timeline:
By December or January, priority works will be finalized. The superintendents of Wenlock and Lady Goschen Hospitals are scheduled to visit Bengaluru next week to discuss these projects.

•    MRI Fee Allegations:
The minister assured that allegations of patients being charged for MRI scans at Wenlock Hospital will be resolved at the earliest.
These measures aim to improve healthcare accessibility and infrastructure, positioning Wenlock Hospital as a state-of-the-art facility in the region.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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