Sagar Biswas :
Hundreds of fake facebook IDs have posed potential threat to state security as the sole regulating authority of country’s IT sector BTRC fails to check and control the unlawful practice for reasons best known to them.
Besides, posting of sensational or vulgar items by hacking other’s facebook ids has also become a common scenario due to lack of surveillance as well relaxed mood of the law enforcement agencies.
The violators are frequently committing cyber crimes by creating fake facebook pages for circulating objectionable statuses, hate speeches, distorted photographs and other materials that resulting in personal harassment and even sometimes communal unrest too.
In the latest incident, a group of religious zealots carried out a series of attacks on the members of Hindu community and vandalized their houses and temples in Nasirnagar upazila of Brahmanbaria district on October 30 centering a facebook post allegedly uploaded by one Rasraj Das hurting religious sentiments.
But significantly, the Brahmanbaria fisherman Rasraj Das, who is in jail, did not upload the image. Quoting intelligence sources, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Hoque recently said: “The distorted photo was posted from Dhaka. It was not done by Rasraj. The image is now in a forensic lab.”
Believe it or not, fake facebook IDs have been operating using the names and photographs of high-profile
politicians, businessmen and celebrities, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehena and daughter Saima Wazed Putul. Not only that, there are several fake facebook pages in the name of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman.
Against this backdrop, State Minister for Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Sunday said: “The cyber security system has been upgraded after the attack on Hindu minority in Nasirnagar. If we fail to detect the cyber attack threats, there may be more incidents like Nasirnagar in the future. In this situation, the government has boosted its cyber security system to check further possible attacks.”
Detailing the government’s plan, she said: “We are going to take a decision on installing CCTV cameras in the cyber cafes across the country to detect cyber attack threats.”
But the State Minister’s statement could hardly assure the sufferers. It is to be noted that, an image depicting the desecration of the Holy Quran was posted on the wall of one Uttam Kumar Barua’s Facebook profile by an unidentified person using a pseudonym resulting in a series of attacks on Buddhist monasteries, shrines and houses in Ramu upazila of Cox’s Bazar district in 2012.
Intelligence officials admitted that, the militants those used to work in small groups have several fake facebook IDs and websites apparently to keep them organized and for regrouping. The militant network is mostly operated using IT facilities, especially the facebook.
A senior official of BTRC [Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission] preferring to remain anonymous said that they have been facing shortage of sophisticated technology and trained manpower to tackle the rising cyber crimes.
“Especially, it is not possible for BTRC to tackle such crimes without full-fledged cooperation from facebook and Google,” the official said.
As an approximate estimation, the number of facebook users in Bangladesh is 1.5 crore. Of them, a remarkable number of ids are fake. The criminals are using these ids for different purposes, especially for sabotage and creating disturbance in the society.
At present, the facebook has been widely used for committing sexual abuse against women, particularly teenage girls. According to the police, the adolescent girls are often victimized by men taking photos or videos of intimate moments. And the women most of the times do not understand when the photos or video were taken. Particularly, in the case of broken relation, the men start blackmailing or sharing those photos and videos in the facebook.
“It will be easy for us to deal with the crimes, if the allegations come through the law enforcement agencies. At that time, we can take steps as per desire of the concerned agencies… But if anybody personally files complaint, in that case the Commission can also show him a way for solution,” Secretary of BTRC Sarwar Alam recently said.
About twenty thousand complaints have been lodged by the sufferers with Cyber Help Desk under ICT Division in the recent months. Of the total complaints, about 75 per cent are facebook related crimes, mainly harassment of women by creating fake facebook IDs, official sources of ICT Division said.
Hundreds of fake facebook IDs have posed potential threat to state security as the sole regulating authority of country’s IT sector BTRC fails to check and control the unlawful practice for reasons best known to them.
Besides, posting of sensational or vulgar items by hacking other’s facebook ids has also become a common scenario due to lack of surveillance as well relaxed mood of the law enforcement agencies.
The violators are frequently committing cyber crimes by creating fake facebook pages for circulating objectionable statuses, hate speeches, distorted photographs and other materials that resulting in personal harassment and even sometimes communal unrest too.
In the latest incident, a group of religious zealots carried out a series of attacks on the members of Hindu community and vandalized their houses and temples in Nasirnagar upazila of Brahmanbaria district on October 30 centering a facebook post allegedly uploaded by one Rasraj Das hurting religious sentiments.
But significantly, the Brahmanbaria fisherman Rasraj Das, who is in jail, did not upload the image. Quoting intelligence sources, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Hoque recently said: “The distorted photo was posted from Dhaka. It was not done by Rasraj. The image is now in a forensic lab.”
Believe it or not, fake facebook IDs have been operating using the names and photographs of high-profile
politicians, businessmen and celebrities, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehena and daughter Saima Wazed Putul. Not only that, there are several fake facebook pages in the name of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman.
Against this backdrop, State Minister for Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Sunday said: “The cyber security system has been upgraded after the attack on Hindu minority in Nasirnagar. If we fail to detect the cyber attack threats, there may be more incidents like Nasirnagar in the future. In this situation, the government has boosted its cyber security system to check further possible attacks.”
Detailing the government’s plan, she said: “We are going to take a decision on installing CCTV cameras in the cyber cafes across the country to detect cyber attack threats.”
But the State Minister’s statement could hardly assure the sufferers. It is to be noted that, an image depicting the desecration of the Holy Quran was posted on the wall of one Uttam Kumar Barua’s Facebook profile by an unidentified person using a pseudonym resulting in a series of attacks on Buddhist monasteries, shrines and houses in Ramu upazila of Cox’s Bazar district in 2012.
Intelligence officials admitted that, the militants those used to work in small groups have several fake facebook IDs and websites apparently to keep them organized and for regrouping. The militant network is mostly operated using IT facilities, especially the facebook.
A senior official of BTRC [Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission] preferring to remain anonymous said that they have been facing shortage of sophisticated technology and trained manpower to tackle the rising cyber crimes.
“Especially, it is not possible for BTRC to tackle such crimes without full-fledged cooperation from facebook and Google,” the official said.
As an approximate estimation, the number of facebook users in Bangladesh is 1.5 crore. Of them, a remarkable number of ids are fake. The criminals are using these ids for different purposes, especially for sabotage and creating disturbance in the society.
At present, the facebook has been widely used for committing sexual abuse against women, particularly teenage girls. According to the police, the adolescent girls are often victimized by men taking photos or videos of intimate moments. And the women most of the times do not understand when the photos or video were taken. Particularly, in the case of broken relation, the men start blackmailing or sharing those photos and videos in the facebook.
“It will be easy for us to deal with the crimes, if the allegations come through the law enforcement agencies. At that time, we can take steps as per desire of the concerned agencies… But if anybody personally files complaint, in that case the Commission can also show him a way for solution,” Secretary of BTRC Sarwar Alam recently said.
About twenty thousand complaints have been lodged by the sufferers with Cyber Help Desk under ICT Division in the recent months. Of the total complaints, about 75 per cent are facebook related crimes, mainly harassment of women by creating fake facebook IDs, official sources of ICT Division said.
