PANAJI
Speaking at a recent internet security workshop organized by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) in association with Google, Chander said criminals in cyberspace were increasingly going after smaller companies that handled data for bigger companies.
“Criminals today have realized that major damage is done by targeting companies and businesses handling data for the big guys, these are the Small and Medium sized businesses (SMBs). About 77 percent of the attacks have been targeted towards SMBs. But in most cases, data security isn’t their highest priority,” he said.
Chander, who has himself, in the past worked in the central government on issues including cyber intelligence and cyber security, said SMBs had to be mindful of these threats and devote adequate resources towards it.
He also added that with a huge online threat looming, the cases were not being reported as adequately as it should have been.
One such malicious virus that took over thousands of computers around the world was Android.Loki. This trojan family virus infects a system and gains the ability to inject some of its code into the system thus obtaining root privileges.
One version of the virus seals off data included on the infected system and forces the owner to pay for his own information. One Goan company had also fallen prey to this virus but had failed to report a complaint with the Goa Police or its Cyber Cell.
“An official figure shows that there are over eight thousand reported cases of cyber crime. But this is only an official figure. Actually, there are over 49,000 cases. In India, 91 lakh Indian computer systems are affected with bots and around 26,000 websites have been defaced. By these numbers, under the IT Act there should have been a mindboggling number of cases that should have been registered but isn’t,” he said.
SMBs also known as Small and Medium sized businesses usually comprise of 100 or less number of employees for a small business while a business with 100 to 999 employees are considered medium sized.
Suggesting steps to be safer on the internet, Chander said internet safety should be taught starting with school children and then to everyone using a computer. For organization, his suggestion is to have a strict policy against unfair practices.
