A cyber attack is a malicious and deliberate attempt by an individual or organization to breach the information system of another individual or organization, to seek commercial gain by hacking banks and financial institutions, to attack critical assets of a nation and to steal sensitive data of organisations.
Why in the news?
Recently, Karnataka’s property registration portal, Kaveri 2.0, faced severe outages (deliberate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks) disrupting citizen services.
A (DDoS) attack is a cyberattack designed to disrupt the normal functioning of a server, service, or network by overwhelming it with excessive internet traffic.
Types of Cyber Attacks
1. Malware: It is designed to cause damage to a single computer, server, or computer network. EG-Ransomware, Spyware, Worms, viruses, and Trojans.
2. Phishing: It is the method of trying to gather personal information using deceptive e-mails and websites.
3. Denial of Service attacks: It shuts down a machine or network, making it inaccessible to its intended users.
4. Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks: Also known as eavesdropping attacks, occur when attackers insert themselves into a two-party transaction. Once the attackers interrupt the traffic, they can filter and steal data.
5. Social engineering: It relies on human interaction to trick users into breaking security procedures to gain sensitive information.
Some facts and data regarding Cyber Attack
As per India Cyber Threat Report 2023, the analysis is drawn from a wealth of data, statistics and telemetry from the app. 8.5 million endpoints.
- Total Detections: Over 400 million detections across approximately 8.5 million Endpoints.
- Detection Rate: Averaging 761 detections per minute. The Automobile Industry experiences the highest number of detections, followed by the Government and Education sector.
- Android Devices: An average of 3 attacks per month per Android device were observed for the year 2023.
Reasons for Increasing Cyber Attack
- Rapid Digitalization
- Large Internet User Base
- Lack of Awareness
- Inadequate Cybersecurity Infrastructure
- Technological Advancements
- Payment Systems Vulnerabi
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Challenges Posed by Cyber Attacks on India
1. Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability: Attack on Power grids, transportation and communication systems can disrupt essential services, and consequently endanger national security.
2. Financial Sector Threats: Attacks on banks, financial institutions, and online payment systems can cause financial losses, identity theft and, as a result, loss of trust in the financial system.
3. Data Breaches and Privacy Concerns: Huge amounts of personal and government data stored online increase the risk of data breaches, as a result,t hackers access and leak sensitive information.
4. Cyber Espionage: Use of cyber attacks to spy on or sabotage the interests of other countries or entities. thus, it can affect India’s national security, foreign policy, and economic development.
5. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: Exploitation of Weaknesses in the software or hardware components to compromise the systems and services eventually cause widespread damage.
Government Measures to Tackle Cyber Attacks
1. National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation): It provides early-stage cyber forensic assistance to Investigating Officers (IOs) of all State/UT Police.
2. National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP): It aims to create a secure cyberspace environment and eventually strengthen the country’s cybersecurity.
3. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): CERT-In is the national agency responsible for responding to and mitigating cybersecurity incidents. Also, It issues alerts and advisories to the public and private sectors to enhance cybersecurity awareness.
4. National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: It Reports all types of cyber crimes, especially cyber crimes against women and children.
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Way Forward to Prevent Cyber Crimes in India
- Implement Advanced Cybersecurity Framework: It offers best practices, policy processes, security protocols, and necessary tools to secure an organization’s business operations.
- Cyber Hygiene Practices: Encourage Regular software updates, strong password management, and secure online behaviour to users.
- International Cooperation: Strengthen collaboration with international organizations, law enforcement agencies, as well as other countries to share threat intelligence, and best practices, and coordinate efforts in investigating and prosecuting cross-border cybercrimes.
- Public Awareness and Education: Conduct Awareness campaigns for the public about common cyber threats, safe online practices, and besides importance of cybersecurity.
- Encourage the Adoption of Cyber Insurance: It helps to cover the financial losses that result from cyber events and incidents. In addition, cyber-risk coverage often helps with the costs associated with remediation,
- Proactive Dark Web Monitoring: Invest in tools that actively monitor the dark web for stolen data, illegal goods, and malware sales.
- Implementing Data Localization Norms: Mandating critical and sensitive data remain stored within national borders can improve control and reduce security risks.
Conclusion:
The growing trend of cyber crimes in India demands undoubtedly, a comprehensive approach, including advanced cybersecurity measures, international cooperation, and public awareness, along with effective implementation of legal frameworks to ensure a secure digital environment for individuals and organizations.