Due to the rise of malware attacks and scams, the security of people’s devices, such as smartphones, tablets etc, has become a growing concern. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released a number of free bot removal programmes to address this issue and help people protect their smartphones. These free bot removal tools can be downloaded by accessing the website of ” Cyber Swachhta Kendra “.
‘Botnet’ is a network of devices such as computers or smartphones that have been infected with the ‘bot’ malware. After the malware infects the device, it becomes part of the botnet, providing access to hackers to take control of the device. Giving hackers the ability to engage in a variety of nefarious activities, such as sending spam, preventing incoming and outgoing texts and calls, and even accessing private data like usernames, passwords, and net banking information.
For this grave threat, the Government is trying to reach out to the people and create awareness about these new tools by sending SMSs. The SMS notification reads, “Stay Cyber Safe! To protect your device from botnet infections and malware, the Government of India, through CERT-In, recommends downloading the ‘Free Bot Removal Tool’ at csk.gov.in”.
This SMS is intended to caution users to stay safe online and take preventative measures to protect their devices from malware threats and botnet infections. The users have to access the Cyber Swachhta Kendra portal to download malware detection and removal programmes for various kinds of devices such as computers, Smartphones etc. These tools are free of cost and easily accessible.
The Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK), or Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre, was created as a part of the Modi government’s Digital India initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to create a secure cyber space by detecting botnet infections in India and to notify, enable cleaning and securing systems of end users to prevent further infections.
The centre is established in accordance with the objectives of the “National Cyber Security Policy”, which envisages creating a secure cyber ecosystem in the country. This centre operates in close coordination and collaboration with Internet Service Providers and Antivirus companies under the supervision of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
For Android, CSK offers two tools, ‘eScan CERT-In Bot Removal’ and ‘M-Kavach 2’. The ‘eScan CERT-In Bot Removal’ is perfect for bot removal and is made with the help of the antivirus company eScan. While ‘M-Kavach 2’ gives overall security, this app is developed by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) Hyderabad with the support of MeitY.
The CSK in collaboration with eScan Antivirus, K7 Security, Quick Heal, also offers free bot removal tools for Microsoft Windows-operated devices.
In addition to the tools for removing bots, the CSK portal also provides other security programmes like ‘USB Pratirodh’ and ‘AppSamvid’ and ‘Browser JSGuard’. “USB Pratirodh” is a desktop security solution, which controls the usage of removable storage media like pen drives, external hard drives, cell phones, and other supported USB mass storage devices. Each time a new USB device is connected, the user must have to enter a username and password to be authenticated. This tool can also scan USB devices for malware.
‘AppSamvid’ is a unique app which allows only a preapproved set of files to run the system. It enables users to make a list of trustworthy executables and Java files. It also helps protects users against computer malware (such as Viruses and Trojans).
‘Browser JSGuard’ is a browser extension which detects and defends against malicious HTML & JavaScript attacks made through the web browser. It blocks access to harmful, inappropriate and dangerous websites that may contain malicious content. It alerts the user on visiting any malicious web pages and provides a detailed analysis threat report of the web page.
