As tech adoption grew, India faced 11.58 lakh cyberattacks in 2020
- The number of cyberattacks seen in 2020 is almost thrice the number in 2019 and about 22 times compared with 2016 according to data presented in Parliament
As dependence on technology in life surged, people, establishments and offices in India faced 1,158,208 cyberattacks in 2020. That translates to a little more than 3,137 cyberattacks every day, according to fresh data of the Union government presented in Parliament on Tuesday.
This is almost three times the number in 2019 and about 22 times compared with 2016.
TRENDING STORIESSee All
“According to information reported to and tracked by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), 394,499 and 1,158,208 cybersecurity incidents have been observed during 2019 and 2020 respectively," the home ministry told the Parliament in a written reply.
Also Read | Six wrong calls on post-covid economy
According to official data, in the last four months of 2020, India witnessed almost 115,000 cases of cyberattacks every month. The Union government had in September 2020 said that the country has reported 696,938 cases of cyber issues till the end of August, and fresh data shared on Tuesday showed this number grew to 11.58 lakh by the end of the year.
CERT-In has noticed a mega surge in cases over the past few years. While the country saw 53,117 cases in 2017, the number of such attacks increased to 208,456 in 2018 and 394,499 in 2019.
Research organizations and cybersecurity experts argue that the cases are likely to increase in 2021, and all sectors from industries to offices, from education to healthcare are likely to see more attacks this year.
The home ministry on Tuesday said the government has taken several measures to enhance cybersecurity posture and to prevent cyberattacks, and that CERT-In issues “alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures to protect computers and networks on regular basis".
MORE FROM THIS SECTIONSee All
The ministry said the government has issued guidelines for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) regarding their key roles and responsibilities for securing applications/ infrastructure and compliance, and informed that cybersecurity audits and mock drills are being organized regularly. The government has set up the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) to generate necessary situational awareness of existing and potential cybersecurity threats. Phase-I of NCCC is operational, the ministry added in its written response.
“With proliferation in internet and mobile phone usage, there is a rise in the number of cybersecurity incidents in the country as well as globally. Proactive tracking by CERT-In including its Cyber SwachhtaKendra and National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) and improved cybersecurity awareness among individuals and organizations across sectors has led to increased reporting of incidents," the ministry of electronics and information technology had told Lok Sabha in September.
“More and more aspects of our lives are becoming dependent on technology and connectivity to the internet. As a result, we present a much wider attack surface than ever before. It’s likely, therefore, that we will see more disruptive attacks in the future. On the one hand, this disruption could be the result of a directed, orchestrated attack, designed to affect critical infrastructure. On the other hand, it could be collateral damage that occurs as a side-effect of a large-volume ransomware attack targeting organizations that we use in our day-to-day lives, such as educational institutions, supermarkets, postal services and public transportation," cybersecurity research organization Kaspersky had warned in a recent report.
“Attackers of all kinds were quick to seize the opportunity to exploit the keen interest in this topic…The pandemic will continue to affect our lives for some time to come; and threat actors will continue to exploit this to gain a foothold in target systems," Kaspersky has said adding that both users and enterprises will have to protect work-from-home setups from threats.
Click here to read the Mint ePaperMint is now on Telegram. Join Mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated with the latest business news.