Indian Businesses Lost $4 Billion Due to Cyberattacks in 2013; 2014 to be Worse

Cyberattacks in 2013 caused some major financial loses for Indian companies. According to latest reports, the losses accounted to $4 billion. And by the time 2014 ends, the loss could be 30% greater.

Reportedly, cyberattacks targeting various organizations in the country have jumped by 30% in 2014 as compared to last year. Experts have identified two characteristics of these attacks:

1. Cybercriminals are targeting the bank accounts of targeted business officials.
2. Cybercriminals are after personal and sensitive data of employees which can be traded in online black markets for quick money.

The Economic Times published a few instances related to the cyberattacks that occurred this year in India.

The Case of Deepak Nitrite, Chemical Hub of India
An old customer of the firm seemed to have not paid for a delivered consignment. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that the customer had received a fake email from the firm. The email stated that the account of the beneficiary has been changed to a new account in Malaysia. Having believed the email, the customer made the payment to the new account. The Vadodara cyber cell is now investigating this case.

The Case of an IT Company in Bengaluru
Information of about 1000 employees of an IT organization in Bengaluru was stolen by cybercriminals. It is most likely that this stolen data would be auctioned in the online black market for a handsome price, depending on what the data has in store. The potential buyers of such stolen data mostly include scammers, business competitors, telemarketing companies, or even the same company from whom the data was stolen in the first place.

The Case of a Company’s CEO
This is an example of highly targeted attacks that cybercriminals launch against high-profile people. In this case, the CEO received an email, stating that his ticket to Europe has been cancelled. When the CEO clicked the email, his account was compromised. The following day, the company’s finance department received an email requesting a transfer of Rs. 20 crore to an account in South Africa. What’s strange about this whole incident is, the CEO was actually traveling to Europe.

While it is obvious to understand that larger companies remain a preferred target for cybercriminals, even smaller ones have started to move up the cyberattack hit list. Their poor IT security infrastructure makes them highly vulnerable and an easy target for hackers. And once they get compromised, they are used as a medium to gain access to bigger companies, who may be their clients or partners.

So, if we specifically put the above three cases into consideration, corporate email security and data loss protection are the prime focus areas for businesses when it comes to tackling cyberattacks.

– Email Security will block fake, malicious, phishing, fraudulent, and spam emails. This will prevent risk of any employee receiving a malicious or a phishing email and respond to it.

– Data Loss Protection will ensure that no data leaves the company’s network and end up in the online black market or into the wrong hands.

Quick Heal Endpoint Security 6.0 offers Email Scan and Data Loss Prevention, besides a host of other security and manageability features.

Quick Heal Email Scan
Effectively scans inbox of corporate endpoints for spam, phishing, and unsolicited emails.

Quick Heal Data Loss Prevention
Prevents crucial data from leaking within the organization and from going outside the corporate network.

For more details on how Quick Heal Endpoint Security helps businesses secure their assets and improve productivity, visit www.quickheal.com/enterprise-security-and-antivirus

Source:
https://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com