HYDERABAD: Apart from fake news and misinformation, a new kind of malicious attack is being spread in the country which in turn takes the shape of a national-level cyber attack. K Indraveni, the Information Security Officer of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) said that nowadays photos are being embedded with virus, which when downloaded over the Internet can compromise one’s smartphone or computer. 

“These photos when downloaded, leave zombies in smart phones or computers and the users are not even aware of it. Just to see whether a news is genuine or not, one downloads the picture, the moment it downloads, it comes into the system, and the system is getting compromised and is capable of doing national-level attacks,” Indraveni said at a an roundtable discussion on fake news and misinformation organised by the Software Freedom LAw Centrer India (SFLC). “So it is not just forwarding which affects, it is also downloading which creates a malicious ripple effect,” she said.