KOCHI : Social media accounts with large followings are constantly vulnerable to hacking, which often originates from foreign countries. Ministers, MLAs, actors, and social influencers in the state have all fallen victim to cyber criminals.
When such attacks take place, victims seek help to restore status quo. Jiyas Jamal, an expert of cyber-security law and founder of Kochi-based NGO Cyber Suraksha Foundation, is one such person that many turn to. To date, the 35-year-old lawyer has recovered around 300 social media accounts targeted by fraudsters.
Revenue Minister K Rajan, former minister and CPM leader K K Shailaja, Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath, Poonjar MLA Sebastian Kulathunkal, Kochi mayor M Anilkumar, former MLA V P Sajeendran, and musician Jassie Gift have been some of his high-profile clients.
“My journey with social media accounts started in early 2013 when I began handling the pages of politicians as part of the 2014 general election. I managed nearly 100 pages, including those of celebrities. Even during that time, I faced several cyber threats. I realised the importance of social media resilience and started working for users,” says Jiyas.
“My Facebook account was recently hacked, and unwanted and unnecessary videos were posted on the page. I was left helpless, and there was a situation when I thought my account and page will be lost for ever. But, Jiyas Jamal came to the rescue and he helped me retrieve my Facebook page and account,” said Jassie Gift.
Jiyas’s book, Unlock, which was released a month ago, provides a guide to social media users on how to keep their accounts safe and secure.
He initiated Cyber Suraksha Foundation with the vision of achieving a zero cyber crime status in the country through awareness and training programmes, and effective cyber crime prevention methods. “We use the technico-legal side of social media to address hacking. Since we adopt legal means, the issue can be sorted out within 10-30 days,” he said.
Interestingly, Jiyas is also the last hope for several police officers who have fallen victim to attacks.
“Earlier, fraudsters took control of accounts by sending an http link or mail claiming policy violations. Nowadays, however, they create a page similar to that the target account, tag some accounts, and the user receives a notification saying that the account will be deleted soon. This forces the user to follow the fraudster’s instructions and ends up losing the account,” said Jiyas, adding that several well-established YouTube pages have faced similar attacks.
He has initiated efforts to spread awareness of cyber safety among the public.
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