The Maharashtra cyber cell has cautioned people against a website named ‘Deep Nude’ and its several versions that use Artificial Intelligence to generate naked picture of a person when a normal photograph is uploaded to the site, thus leaving women participating in online trends such as ‘Saree challenge’ vulnerable to extortion, pornography, and blackmail.
As per a report in The Hindu, a cyber police officer warned, “Recent trends like the ‘Saree Challenge’, where women upload their pictures on their social media accounts and tag their friends, creating a chain, present endless opportunities to criminal elements to prey on them using websites like Deep Nude. It is best to have privacy settings that do not allow strangers access to pictures.”
The looming Threat
The contentious platform that shut down its operations last year is back in the business now. Reportedly, Indian cybercriminals are also using the site for catfishing. Cybercriminals also honey-trap married men through explicit chats and compromising pictures and later use inappropriate messages for character assassination, revenge porn, and blackmail.
The cybercriminals make use of people’s reluctance to complain about such crimes to the police. Maharashtra SP (Cyber Cell) Balsing Rajput informed that a team had been set up to monitor the site so that stringent action could be taken against the serious crime.
The dangers of social media pictures
The images shared on social media by women, as per the reports, are frequently used by the cybercriminals to create nudes, which are then used for extortion, pornography and blackmail.
One of the worst dangers of sites like Deep Nude is that experts say there are different versions of the site available. The Hindu report mentions that the versions even include an app and even a Twitter handle. One webpage even seeks donation from users. Already there are reports of women being targeted.
Zoom’s Security Threat
Earlier, the Singapore government had suspended the use of Zoom Video Communications Inc’s conferencing app for online education after hackers hijacked a lesson and showed obscene images to students. Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) said on April 9 (Thursday) that it is currently investigating the breaches, which it described as “serious incidents”.
Singapore teachers are just the latest to be staggered by the act, in which strangers join conversations and shout offensive slogans, show obscene and distressing images or post objectionable messages. Taiwan has also banned the usage of Zoom software for teleconferencing applications. The Indian government has also recently stated that the Zoom software is not safe.
