Midnight Web by Rahul Banerjee

  WhatsApp the app that's become so much a part of our daily lives now that it's second nature to our thumbs. From group chats with family members to office messages that could very easily have been an email, WhatsApp is the undisputed monarch. With over 500 million users in India alone, it's a sure bet that it's the monarch of the messaging jungle. But, keep your encrypted data to yourself there's competition on the horizon: Arattai. Yes, you heard that right, an Indian-developed messaging app that is all ready to challenge WhatsApp and find its own place. Arattai, developed by Chennai company Zoho, is making headway as a domestic substitute for the likes of WhatsApp, Telegram, and the whole messaging fraternity. "Arattai" is indeed "casual chat" in Tamil. That relaxed, informal chat that doesn't have you questioning whether the government is tapping in. But, wait until we get all fired up about having a WhatsApp alternative, let's talk ...

  The Emergence of Digital Mobilization In spite of the ban, the protesters, who were mostly Generation Z, discovered ways to bypass the ban. They made use of VPNs and the limited platforms that were still available, such as TikTok, to mobilize and organize. The protests turned violent and claimed a huge number of lives very quickly, worsening public anger and prompting the Prime Minister's resignation.   Discord as a Digital Parliament In the wake of the political meltdown, a fresh, and surprising, chapter took place. The youth movement, rallying under the heading "Youth Against Corruption," made its way to Discord. This chat forum, initially infamous for its gaming forums, was the de facto "parliament" in which more than 145,000 members debated and voted on a new temporary leader. Following a series of emotive debates and surveys, they chose former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to head the government of transition. Her appointment, due to her standing ...

     The light from a dozen monitors reflected in Ramesh's weary eyes as he sagged in his chair. The Security Operations Centre was a constant storm of red alerts, each one a flash of digital lightning. "Analysts drown in alerts," he muttered to himself, the grim cliché of his profession. Today, the storm was a hurricane. A new threat had emerged a phantom, moving with the speed of a nation-state attack, leaving no clear trail for their traditional tools to follow. It wasn't just detection; it was a full-scale assault on critical infrastructure, a ransomware attack that was spreading like wildfire. Their systems flagged the initial breach, but every attempt at manual log correlation, every cross-reference, every deep dive into the dark web chatter was a dead end. The threat was faster and more unpredictable than ever, and ramesh and his team were reacting too late, always a step behind. This was the kind of crisis that demanded hours, even days, of tireless, manual...