NEW DELHI: Hanubot, a new comic superhero, will save gullible children from the jaws of the deadly Blue Whale. Security agencies in India have come up with a cyber comic to free children from the trap of Blue Whale Challenge, the online game that compels players to commit suicide, and other such cyber blackmailing tools.
The cyber comic has been developed by the NGO Information Sharing and Analysis Centre at the behest of National Technical Research Organisation, a technical intelligence agency that functions under the National Security Adviser in the PMO.
The comic in English language has the first Indian cyber superhero named Hanubot who advises a girl trapped by the Blue Whale game to talk to her parents and teachers to break free of the game.
Hanubot advises the children and the youth trapped by Blue Whale and other such dangerous online games on how to get rid of the problem by simply talking to their parents or teachers, besides seeking counseling from experts and helplines.
The comic has flagged certain codes used by cyber blackmailers and also provides lessons to the parents on how and where to report cyber blackmailing and seek recourse under the available laws. It further advises the readers to remain alert while indulging in online chatting.
The cyber comic has been supplied to certain public schools in Delhi, Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Bhagalpur (Bihar).
The security agencies came into the picture after inputs suggested that Pakistan’s ISI and its terror affiliates like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad could use such cyber games and blackmailing tools to radicalise gullible children and youth. India has a young population of 40 crore.
“While a large youth population is considered an asset for the economy, young children are also susceptible to radicalisation and the ISI is suspected to be seeking to exploit this vulnerability to bleed the Indian economy,” said an official.
The Blue Whale originated in Russia but the ISI is suspected to be planting malicious ware along with the game and retrieving personal data and information from the mobile phones used by the children to blackmail them if they refuse to toe their radical line and compel them to commit suicide, intelligence sources said.
The Blue Whale Game consists of a series of tasks assigned to the players by administrators of the game over a 50-day period. The final challenge requires the player to commit suicide. Scores of children in India have ended their lives while playing the game, which has raised concerns as high up as in Parliament and the Supreme Court.
The apex court had in October termed the game a “national problem” and directed Doordarshan and private television channels to help create awareness about the deadly game by highlighting its dangers during prime time programmes.