KOCHI: Minister K Rajan's Facebook page was recently recovered from a Cambodian hacker by Jiyas Jamal. He also recovered Kochi Mayor Adv M Anilkumar's page. Advocate Jiyas Jamal, a native of Kalamasery, is also an expert in recovering social media accounts on not only Facebook but also Instagram and YouTube.

There is a long list of 'rescue' operations done by this ethical hacker to recover the social media handles of prominent personalities including former minister KK Shailaja, MLAs Anwar Sadath, Sebastian Kulathungal, etc. By adding celebrities and high-ranking officials, this number will cross 150.

His passion for cyber started when he was studying for LLB at Law College, Ernakulam.

He has managed the social media pages of some representatives during his studies. From such friendship circle he was asked about recovering hacked accounts. After successfully handling a couple of issues within 48 hours, more requests for help came in. He became active in this field three years ago. He has not converted this into a profession and continues his work as a lawyer but still gets paid for the cyber service.

Jiyas is a High Court lawyer. He authored the book 'Unlock' which exposes cyber crimes. Wife: Shibina. Children: Hasin, Adam.

Hacking and recovery
"This Facebook account will be deleted forever. Click to avoid this"- many lost their accounts after clicking on such links. The hacked pages were used by the hackers to promote illegal activities like doping and gambling. Most of the attacks originated from countries like Nigeria, Cambodia and Pakistan.

The recovery process is done only after understanding how the hack was done. Technical and legal means will have to be sought for this. The help of social media authorities will also be needed.