New face of terrorism and the coming storm!

In yet another example of using the technological infrastructure in India to hurt it, the terrorists used a computer in Khalsa College’s computer lab – which was connected to internet (Wi-Fi connected) but was not password protected.  So, they used this computer to hack and send the email through it using alarbi.alhindi@gmail.com.

At 7pm, three students were present in the laboratory and were working on their project. Students of biochemistry, computer science and even those doing their PhD use the laboratory. While the laboratory has 12 more machines, only one was connected to internet at that time. The laboratory was closed at 7.45pm, said the police. “The email is similar to several other mails sent on earlier occasions. Our teams are investigating the matter,” said ATS additional commissioner P B Singh.

As I said earlier, that this is not just a terrorist act for the terror’s sake but it hits another bird with that stone – India’s position as a technological power.  It has a very sinister element to it and it is imperative that India’s technical companies take this up on war footing.

Just as the rise of India’s technical market started not because of Infosys but because there was a large market full of smaller companies ready to back the big guys up and give them competition, similarly, the fall of the larger powers will also be predicated on the fall of the smaller players!

So, if Infosys, WIPRO, TCS, and Satyam have to keep growing, TODAY they must sit up and take notice.  We need to have a strong organization to create a solid and robust security infrastructure that takes care of the loopholes so hacking does not become an easy door for the terrorists!!

Of course, there is a religio-economic angle as well!  Many IT companies will stop hiring the Muslim candidates from here on for obvious reasons.  What does that mean?  More friction and more youth that will feel discriminated.

But they have themselves to blame!!  Today… TODAY.. when terrorists amongst the Muslim technology employees are using their education to carry out mayhem in India.. TODAY .. every forward thinking Muslim professional should do the following:

– Do dharnas and protests and make their voice heard
– Form communities and groups to create best practices of catching such elements amongst them.
– Help institute ways to do background checks to make sure that the companies have a better way to hire the RIGHT and HONEST Muslim professional and not trip on the terrorist minded!

The best way for the best and honest to hurt themselves is to let the bad elements take away YOUR platform and usurp your bedrock of credibility!  But THAT is precisely what is happening!  I am not saying this to imply that every Muslim needs to “prove” him or herself – but the situation is such that the very platform that one is standing on intrinsically is being hijacked.  Sitting and acting self righteous will not save the passive from the coming storm!!  Hence in context of Muslims, it is not a fight between a Hindu and a Muslim Indian, but between a Muslim Indian and a Muslim anti-Indian.  Which side one falls in the end, is dependent on how they the ones in the former group protect their boundaries!!

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