In this episode, to share the much-needed knowledge of the hour, we have Krishna Sastry Pendyala, one of India’s senior-most cyber security and digital forensics experts, with over 25 years of experience working with the Ministry of Home Affairs and leading national institutions. We entered the real world of cyber crime investigations, digital fraud, and cyber warfare as it unfolded on the ground, not in theory. The conversation traces the evolution of cyber crime across generations. From early certificate frauds using scanners and computers, to e-governance scams, banking frauds, phishing, QR code scams, ransomware, and today’s AI-driven cyber attacks, Krishna Sastry explains how cyber crime moved from individuals to organised networks, state actors, and crime-as-a-service models. He explains why his famous line, “Distance is dead and identity is a doubt,” perfectly describes the modern digital world. We break down how social engineering, malware, RAT Trojans, keyloggers, zero-click exploits, Pegasus-style surveillance, steganography, homoglyph attacks, vishing, smishing, fake QR codes, and personalised fraud mails actually work. The episode explains how one click, one message, or one panic moment is enough to trigger massive damage. The discussion includes real landmark cases such as the Cosmos Bank cyber heist, ATM skimming, shimmer attacks, jackpoting, man-in-the-middle attacks, and how fraud risk management, user behaviour analytics, and RBI safeguards protect Indian banks today. Krishna Sastry also shares rare cases where crimes were solved using electronic evidence from unexpected devices like smart water meters, gaming consoles, and embedded systems. A major part of the episode focuses on digital forensics. How deleted messages are recovered, why police never switch on seized systems, how metadata can expose the truth, what cross-examination in courts looks like, and why electronic evidence is time-sensitive, repeatable, and reproducible. He also explains his role as an expert witness, handling cases that resurface even decades later. We dive into the dark web ecosystem including TOR networks, marketplaces, ransomware gangs, virtual currencies, mule accounts, mixers, tumblers, and cyber slavery rings. The episode also addresses elder frauds, sextortion, digital arrests, cyber insurance, ethical hacking, OSINT, social media risks, and why both individuals and organisations must rethink cyber safety. The conversation also offers insights on the future of cyber forensics, AI and cyber security, and practical advice for everyday digital life. If you want to understand how cyber crimes actually happen, how investigations really work, and how to stay safer in a connected world, this episode is for you.
