India has emerged as the third biggest target for hackers after the United States and Japan, says a new study by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).In view of the recent security breach in Indian banks that compromised nearly 32 lakh debit cards, the industry body said its recent study had earlier alerted about such cyber attacks.
According to Assocham, India has become a hunting ground for global hackers and criminals. Internet frauds alone cost India a whopping $4 billion (about Rs 24,630 crore) in 2013 as cyber criminals are increasingly using more sophisticated means like ransom ware and spear-phishing.
“The credit/debit/ATM card frauds as detected by some of the largest banks were waiting to happen as India hasbeen on the radar of the global cyber criminals who hack into the computer servers using malware, an Assocham-Mahindra SSG joint study had forewarned,” Assocham said in a statement.
Highlighting Assocham’s role in sensitising banks and agencies against security threats, Assocham Secretary General DS Rawat said, “Shocked that we are by such large volume of frauds forcing most of the big banks to recall their swiping cards, Assocham has been continuously sensitising the government, RBI and the banks against the unfolding cyber risks.”
The study also suggested that mobile frauds will be of serious concern for the companies in the future, as 35-40 per cent of financial transactions are done via mobile devices now and is expected to grow to 60-65 per cent by 2017.
The Assocham statement said the cyber attacks were observed to be originating from the cyberspace of a number of countries, including the US, Europe, Brazil, Turkey, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Algeria and the UAE.
The study showed Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra occupying the top three spots for cyber crimes registered under the new IT Act in India.
During the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, a total number of 21,699, 27,605, 28,481 and 36,554 Indian websites were hacked, respectively, by various hacker groups spread worldwide.
“There is an urgent need for having public-private-partnership in cyber security for protecting the critical online data and creating awareness amongst the public,”
Assocham said.
