Internet Attacks Leave Footprint In Small Cities, Businesses In India

Symantec Corp. has announced the India findings of its Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 17, which reveals that smaller and emerging cities such as Bhubaneshwar, Surat, Cochin, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam and Indore are increasingly facing the risk of cyber attacks, with 25 per cent of bot-infections in India reported in such cities. The report also shows that advanced targeted attacks are spreading beyond the more commonly assumed target of large organisations with 50 percent targeting small and medium organisations in 2011. In addition, the report highlights that while the number of vulnerabilities decreased by 20 percent, the number of malicious attacks continued to skyrocket by 81percent.

“Augmented by broadband penetration, smaller and emerging cities of India are exploring opportunities offered by the virtual world, in turn creating a new lucrative pool of targets for cyber criminals to exploit,” Shantanu Ghosh, Vice President and Managing Director, India Product Operations, Symantec. “Lack of awareness and low adoption of security measures makes these cities susceptible to cyber threats and warrants greater vigilance in protecting information assets.”

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Smaller, Emerging Cities Face The Risk Of Cyber Attacks: Small and emerging cities such as Bhubaneshwar, Surat, Cochin, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam and Indore have a high proportion of SMEs and industry clusters. Symantec has observed a sizeable 25 percent of bot-infected computers in these cities, indicating that these locations are being inducted as part of a network of compromised computers. Additionally, some cities that repeatedly appear in the list for origin of phishing in India - Ahmedabad, Nashik and Coimbatore also figure in the list of bot-infections.

Targeted Attacks On Organisations Of All Sizes: Targeted attacks are growing, with the number of daily targeted attacks increasing from 77 per day to 82 per day by the end of 2011. Targeted attacks use social engineering and customised malware to gain unauthorised access to sensitive information. These advanced attacks have traditionally focused on public sector and government; however, in 2011, targeted attacks diversified.

Targeted Attacks No Longer Limited To Large Organisations. More than 50 percent of such attacks target organisations with fewer than 2,500 employees, and almost 18 percent target companies with fewer than 250 employees. These organisations may be targeted because they are in the supply chain or partner ecosystem of a larger company and because they are less well-defended. Furthermore, 58 percent of attacks target non-execs, employees in roles such as human resources, public relations, and sales. Individuals in these jobs may not have direct access to information, but they can serve as a direct link into the company. They are also easy for attackers to identify online and are used to getting proactive inquiries and attachments from unknown sources.

Malicious Attacks Continue To Grow Rapidly: Symantec blocked more than 5.5 billion malicious attacks in 2011, an increase of 81 percent over the previous year. In addition, the number of unique malware variants increased to 403 million and the number of Web attacks blocked per day increased by 36 percent.

At the same time, spam levels fell considerably and new vulnerabilities discovered decreased by 20 percent. These statistics, compared to the continued growth in malware, paint an interesting picture. Attackershave embraced easy to use attack toolkits to efficiently leverage existing vulnerabilities. Moving beyond spam, cyber criminals are then turning to social networks to launch their attacks. The very nature of these networks makes users incorrectly assume they are not at risk and attackers are using these sites to target new victims. Due to social engineering techniques and the viral nature of social networks, it’s much easier for threats to spread from one person to the next.

Rise Of Data Breaches, Lost Devices Concern For The Future: Approximately 1.1 million identities were stolen per data breach on average in 2011, a dramatic increase over the amount seen in any other year. Hacking incidents posed the greatest threat, exposing 187 million identities in 2011—the greatest number for any type of breach last year. However, the most frequent cause of data breaches that could facilitate identity theft was theft or loss of a computer or other medium on which data is stored or transmitted, such as a smartphone, USB key or a backup device. These theft-or loss-related breaches exposed 18.5 million identities.

As tablets and smartphones continue to outsell PCs, more sensitive information will be available on mobile devices, workers are bringing their smartphones and tablets into the corporate environment faster than many organisations are able to secure and manage them. This may lead to an increase in data breaches as lost mobile devices present risks to information if not properly protected.

Mobile Threats Expose Businesses And Consumers: Mobile vulnerabilities increased by 93 percent in 2011.At the same time, there was a rise in threats targeting the Android operating system. With the number of vulnerabilities in the mobile space rising and malware authors not only reinventing existing malware for mobile devices, but creating mobile-specific malware geared to the unique mobile opportunities, 2011 was the first year that mobile malware presented a tangible threat to businesses and consumers. These threats are designed for activities including data collection, the sending of content, and user tracking.