2000% Increase In Cyber Security Breaches During Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic and rising digitization have led to a surge in cybercrimes. India saw the number of breaches increased by 2,000 percent during the pandemic, said experts at Pursuit 2021 — an event on cybersecurity organized by Internet and Mobile Association of India. There has been a rise in targeted attacks, during the pandemic, and "cyberwar has started", said Gulshan Rai, India's first Cybersecurity Coordinator, and Distinguished Fellow, ORF.

Although 90 percent of attacks are traditional attacks, which include phishing, malware, etc, however, the key concern is the rise in the number of targeted attacks (which accounts for 9 percent currently). Solar winds, Wannacry, are some examples of targeted attacks that are detrimental for any organization and nation.

The event saw the participation of about 4,000 delegates and over 130 speakers from across the globe.

Photo by FLY:D on Unsplash

"In India, almost every sector has been breached because they all are inter-connected. During the pandemic, the number of breaches increased by 2,000 percent because we were using ASL or DSL from home. ASL, DSL, fiber, nothing is secured, this whole scenario reflects that your sensitive information is at risk and is being used for a variety of purposes, causing financial fraud, causing a threat to national security," Rai said.

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Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs' National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), which was launched in August 2019, has recorded over four lakh complaints, with about 50 percent related to financial frauds, revealed Ashok Kumar, Director, Ministry of Home Affairs. The NCRP portal gives a perspective on what kind of complaints/frauds are trending. "The recently developed module — Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, on the portal has helped us save Rs 5 crore within two to three months," Kumar said.

Under the new module, released with the helpline number 155260, once a complaint is filed with the police, they note down certain parameters of the complaint, and once input into the system, it alerts the banks on any suspicious transaction, saving the targeted amount. The two-day virtual event, held from July 14-15, deliberated upon various aspects of cybercrimes in the financial sector and how technology can play a role in mitigating such attacks. The event saw the participation of about 4,000 delegates and over 130 speakers from across the globe. (IANS/JC)