IN Abdul Alif Yazid’s Kifarah, friends in a video conference call witness one of them being murdered on camera. The murderer then forces the others to perform a series of challenges, threatening to expose their secrets if they don’t.
Abdul Alif had the idea for Kifarah in an e-learning class during the movement control order (MCO) as he pondered questions such as: “What happens if you witness a murder during an online video session? How do you know it’s real?”
The events in Kifarah unfolds entirely over a Meet video conference which Abdul Alif shot in one continuous take, as he wanted his audience to feel like they are part of a private conversation gone wrong.
Kifarah was filmed with a RM500 budget – most of which went to securing the rights to a song – during MCO when travel restrictions were in place.
Abdul Alif said he had to direct the six cast members who were located in different places – Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Melaka and Johor – over the phone.
“You can see in the movie that the characters are checking their phones during the virtual meeting. That’s really me giving them directions,” he said.
The movie was made to enter a competition by Kuman Pictures – it didn’t win but the production company liked it enough to showcase Kifarah on its YouTube channel.
Abdul Alif wanted to make a movie that depicted people choosing not to do the right thing due to circumstances.
“The group of people all have something good going for them at that moment. They can’t risk having their dark secrets out or the authorities getting involved because they don’t want their lives ruined,” said the Multimedia University (Melaka) cinematic arts student.
He felt with today’s technology strangers could gain control over people’s lives even via online platforms such as video conferencing.
“While technology has its benefits like keeping people connected even though they are physically apart, it has drawbacks too.
“You could try to live your life normally but someone on the Internet could be using your secrets against you,” he said.
The past doesn’t stay buried
Abdul Alif said he was inspired by Unfriended, released in 2014, in which a student commits suicide after an anonymous person films and uploads a video of her passing out and defecating.
A year later, when her best friend and classmates chat over Skype, an unknown user joins the group using the dead girl’s ID, and threatens to upload incriminating videos and other information about them to social media.
Unfriended was made to illustrate modern anxieties due to social media, as people have little to no control over their information being shared or spread by others.
Nelson Greaves, who wrote the movie, told IndieWire that bullies today are not just people with physically imposing features, as the Internet allows anyone to be a cyberbully online.
“There are no consequences to you (the bully) personally, and the other thing is kids aren’t doing it to be mean. They’re doing it to get likes; they’re doing it to be popular because it’s sort of this strange democratisation of bullying,” he said in the IndieWire report.
Unfriended’s sequel Dark Web (2018) explored the consequences of using a stolen laptop.
Unlike its predecessor, it’s not about strangers exposing secrets but people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A guy who needed a laptop to work on a sign language app decides to grab one from the lost-and-found section of a cafe.
It happens to belong to someone who supplies graphic torture videos to buyers on the dark web.
The buyers then target him and his friends, making their life a nightmare, as they want the notebook returned.
Stealing is bad but it’s also important to realise that hackers often exploit our weakness for gadgets.
One of the easiest tricks hackers have been known to employ is “USB dead drop” which involves randomly scattering thumb drives for people to pick up.
Most studies have shown that people tend to not only pick up the drives but also plug them into their computers, especially if they have an official logo or the word “private” written on them. Some even do it because they hope to identify the owner so they could return the drive.
However, opening any of the files contained in the drive will prompt the user to download an “update” that will infect their system with malware, giving the hacker control over the computer.
Den, released one year before Unfriended, is told from the perspective of a girl trying to find people to talk to on a Chatroulette-like app (users log in and get paired to chat with random strangers) as part of an educational project.
The story takes a dark turn when a stranger that she encounters briefly in a chat room hacks her webcam and starts to secretly record her.
Even though she stops using the app, thinking she is safe in her own house, the perpetrator captures a clip of her in an intimate moment and sends it out to people on her contact list.
In 2011, director Michael Goi released Megan Is Missing, a webcam horror movie about what happens when two teenage girls are befriended by a stranger in a chat room.
Goi claimed his movie was based on real-life incidents involving Internet predators going after vulnerable children.
He explained on the official movie website that he hoped parents watching the movie will become aware of the dangers of the online world.
Most parents allow children to keep computers in their own room, he said, which meant there will be no parental supervision when they go online.
He is not trying to get parents to ban their children from using the Internet, said Goi, explaining that he believed the Web is an important innovation for communication.
“But I also think that many parents have no idea what technology their kids are using to communicate with each other and the world.
“Or who their kids are talking to. Or what these people are capable of. And kids feel invincible when they’re online,” Goi wrote on the website.
Kuman Pictures founder Amir Muhammad felt people use the Internet to “amplify” themselves, as their identity is shielded.
“If you’re a very judgemental person, you can broadcast these thoughts online without people knowing who you really are.
“Same goes for when you have a more sinister motive like vengeance – you can hide behind an online persona and feel like you can do anything.
“Technology allows people to be anonymous, making them feel they can get away with anything,” he said.
From reel to real life
When Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) cybersecurity and system research unit coordinator Dr Madihah Mohd Saudi contemplated about movies depicting online privacy invasions like Unfriended, she said the likelihood of such unfortunate events happening to people in real life was “very possible”.
“Gaining access to your webcam or smartphone camera by secretly installing malware in your devices is one of the common types of exploitation hackers use,” Madihah said.
One notable example is the BlackShades malware. In 2014, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre announced it had conducted an operation in 16 countries to arrest over 80 individuals who used the BlackShades malware to target victims for criminal purposes.
It described BlackShades as a sophisticated piece of malware that allows users to “remotely and surreptitiously gain complete control over a victim’s computer”.
Aside from activating the victim’s webcam, the attacker could also access and view files such as pictures and documents, and record keystrokes.
According to a statement by the United States Department of Justice, BlackShades was advertised on forums and typically offered for US$40 (RM165).
The Washington Post reported that BlackShades was used to infect more than 500,000 computers worldwide.
Once a user is tricked into downloading the malware, the hacker can use the victim’s social media accounts to send messages to others with a link that would secretly download the malware to their computers as well.
According to a post by security company Sophos, student Jared James Abraham targeted over 150 female victims, including former Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
Madihah urged users to be aware of the permission they grant to apps on their devices: “Don’t allow it to track you all the time. Instead you can choose to just let an app access the camera, microphone or your location only when it’s being used.”
She added that it’s important for users to update their devices with new security patches once they have been made available.
Digital Forensics Research Society president Dr Aswami Fadillah Mohd Ariffin uses a cover for his laptop webcam as a simple way of preventing hackers from invading his privacy.
“I’ve met people who asked me why am I displaying some kind of phobia about being watched on my laptop.
“Movies may be fictitious but, based on my technical understanding, I can say that it’s possible for hackers to remotely infiltrate a person’s device for various reasons such as espionage or blackmail for money,” he said.
According to Aswami Fadillah, another means hackers use to get into a person’s device is via a malicious link sent through WhatsApp: “If your browser has not been patched or updated with the latest security fixes, a hacker could exploit a vulnerability to download spyware.”
He advised those who discovered their personal photos leaked on social media sites to reach out to the platform providers and request for the images to be removed.
“I feel it’s best for victims to never engage with perpetrators and just go straight to the authorities for help.
“It may not be an easy decision because the hackers would claim to have personal images or information that the victim doesn’t want shared.
“But it is the best way to prevent further unwanted incidents,” he said, adding that with digital forensics, it’s possible for experts to trace the source of a hack.
“But you have to be very patient because it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s not like in the movies where it’s found almost immediately,” Aswami Fadillah added.
Madihah too hoped that more people learn to reach out to the proper channels when they find themselves in an unfortunate situation.
“I feel most people don’t know who to turn to for help. We have the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) which can provide assistance to victims,” she said.
Incidents threatening safety or privacy can be reported to CSM’s Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCert) which operates the Cyber999 service.
To report, call 1300 88 2999 (8.30am to 5.30pm)/(019) 266 5850 (24 hours) or use its portal (bit.ly/tech_cyber999).
To lodge a complaint such as online harassment and dissemination of obscene content, head to the MCMC Complaint portal (bit.ly/MCMC_aduan), call 1800 188 030 or WhatsApp (016) 220 6262.
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