In India, during the last 3 years, Cyber Crime rose by 350 percent: Study reveals

This Thursday, according to an Assocham-PwC joint study, Cyber-crime increased by a high rate of 350% in India during the period 2011 to 2014. The systems using poor security protocols made them more vulnerable to these threats.

Different countries including the US, China, Brazil, Europe, Algeria, Pakistan, Turkey and the Arab Emirates made most of the attacks in the past. Moreover, the study says, as India is one of the growing region for internet and smartphone, the cyber criminals mostly prefer India.

The study added, “Cyberattacks around the world are occurring at a greater frequency and intensity. Not only individuals but also businesses and governments are being targeted. The profile and motivation of cyber attackers are fast changing.”

Furthermore, according to the study titled ‘Protecting interconnected systems in the cyber era’, “The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has also reported a surge in the number of incidents handled by it, with close to 50,000 security incidents in 2015”.

These days, the overall effectiveness has raised, as there has been a rapid growth in the utilization of information and operational technology (OT) and consumer technology (CT) in critical infrastructure. In this regard the study declared, “However, these elements have also become the target of choice for attackers since they recognise the impact of disrupting the routine way of life”.

As far as the rate of cyber-crimes in the US is concerned, it witnessed a growth of about 50% from 2012-2015 against its critical infrastructure.

In these crimes, the attackers also target businesses and governments besides targeting individuals. As the published paper noted, “The profile and motivation of cyber attackers are fast changing. A new breed of cyber criminals has now emerged, whose main aim is not just financial gains but also causing disruption and chaos to businesses in particular and the nation at large”.

Finally, the report also noted that in order to enhance the resiliency of processes and systems from the rising cyber risks, the sharing of cyber security intelligence and insights on regular basis is of pivotal importance.