Cyber crime ring had eyes on Canadian visa applicants in India

A computer from the University of Western Ontario in London was discovered as compromised, as were computers from the Times of India, Honeywell in the United States and the National Informatics Centre in India, and personal information about Canadian applicants for a visa were copied by the spies who hacked into Indian embassy computers in Afghanistan.

The network  was brought to light by the joint effort of the Information Warfare Monitor (Citizen Lab, Munk School of Affairs, University of Toronto and SecDev Group) and the Shadowserver Foundation of volunteer security professionals.

The report — Shadows In the Cloud: Investigating Cyber Espionage 2.0 — revealed how hackers used  email and social sites such as Twitter and Google Groups to commandeer computers and use them to steal confidential information from India, the Dalai Lama’s office, the United Nations and other organisations, the Toronto Sun reported.

Ron Deibert of the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, said the information on the Canadian visa applications was not particularly sensitive on its own, although when pieced together with other contextual information could be a risk.

Individuals can protect their own computers by being cautious when opening emails, particularly with attachments, and by frequently updating their software.

However, the researchers have urged Canada to take an international lead by helping to develop domestic and foreign cyber-policies to combat online espionage.

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Canadian Immigration applications with the Canadian Embassy.