CYBER FRAUDS AGAINST EXPORTERS

CYBER FRAUDS AGAINST EXPORTERS

Subject : Economy

Context : The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has warned the Commerce Ministry on the increasing number of phishing cyber frauds taking place against Indian exporters.

Concept :

• The MEA has informed that email spoofing/phishing cyber frauds are causing increased bilateral trade disputes.
• Though this is registered as a cybercrime in the respective jurisdictions of the country, the authorities cannot do much to reverse the transaction.
• The victims end up being the Indian exporters who after supplying the goods, have neither the goods in their possession nor have received payment for it.

Preventive Measures

• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Commerce Ministry, has in turn advised export organisations and all traders to implement necessary security protocols for protection.
• Such problems can be largely resolved by implementing security protocols such as Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain Keys identified Mail (DKIM) and Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting & Conformance (DMARC).
• SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are protocols for standard email signatures which meet various safety issues and all three must be implemented in order to ensure the best possible deliverability.
• All three prove that the sender is legitimate that their identity has not been compromised and that they’re not sending email on behalf of someone else. They are all based on the Domain Name System (DNS) of the domain.
• It was also proposed that exporters could confirm bank details by another channel such as a secure voice line.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT):

• It is an agency of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is responsible for implementing the country’s foreign trade policy. It was established in 1991.
• It has headquarters in New Delhi with 38 regional offices all over the country.
• It is headed by the Director-General of Foreign Trade. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) appoints the DGFT.
• It is responsible for administering laws regarding foreign trade and foreign investment in India and for the execution of India’s import and export Policy.
• It offers facilitation to exporters in connection with developments in international trade such as WTO Agreements, Rules of Origin etc. to aid them in their export and import decisions in an international dynamic environment.