Techshots' Weekly Cybersecurity Newsletter

Hello readers,

We are here with yet another edition of the Techshots’ Weekly Cybersecurity Newsletter. The week gone by has been really exciting in terms of technology, courtesy of the launch of Threads. But before we dive into it, let’s discuss the rain fury. 

India has seen a surplus of rain in the first eight days of July, which has bridged the rainfall deficit for the entire country. While the rain lovers are clearly rejoicing, the rains have also exposed the crippling infrastructure in the nation. There’s waterlogging almost everywhere. The Minto Bridge in Delhi, where the problem of waterlogging dates back to the 1950s, remained flooded this time too. 

In 2018, a group of engineering students developed an AI system that would identify areas prone to waterlogging and eventually help citizens. But it seems either the technology failed to take off or our cities’ planners failed to look towards technology to find a problem to this persistent problem. Whatever may be the case, citizens continue to suffer and it is more than late to tap into new tools to find a solution. What do you think?

Moving on. 

Meta’s Threads finally launched last week.

Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta launched an app to take on Twitter. It is called Threads, and the UI gives it a half-Instagram, half-Twitter feels. But in terms of cybersecurity, Threads raises several concerns. It is pegged to collect personal data from health and fitness, financial information, contacts, browsing history and location. The privacy concerns were the reason the app wasn’t launched in European Union. 

There’s more. You can only delete Threads if you delete your Instagram. 

You may have downloaded Threads because all the cool kids are doing so. But you can’t delete it without deleting your Instagram account. “You may deactivate your Threads profile at any time, but your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account,” reads a note in Threads’ privacy policy. However, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, explained, “Threads is powered by Instagram, so right now it's just one account, but we're looking into a way to delete your Threads account separately." 

Well, there are privacy concerns and the issue of letting go of your Insta profile. Are you up for Threads yet?

Union Cabinet approved the Data Protection Bill

The Union Cabinet approved the draft Data Protection Bill, which means it will now be introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. If passed, the law will become India’s core data governance framework, six years after the Supreme Court declared privacy as a fundamental right. The bill proposes to levy a penalty of up to ₹250 crore on entities for every instance of violation of norms in the bill.

Recently, the personal data of millions of Bangladeshi citizens was compromised

A government website in Bangladesh (inadvertently) exposed the personal information of millions of citizens. The leaked data includes sensitive details such as names, addresses, and contact information. As on July 7, the data was allegedly still available on the internet. As cybersecurity experts keep saying, merely having protection is not enough. You need to verify, verify and keep verifying.

That was all for this week’s newsletter, folks! Soon, we would upload an interview with Skybox Security on our YouTube page where the expert has dished out several tips on making oneself cyber-safe. Meanwhile, if you wish to read about a topic do write to me at shalini@techshotsapp.com.