India is a land of abundant talent. We all know that by now, but despite of having such talented workforce, the country is still unprepared to protect itself if a cyberattack to the scale of ‘WannaCrypt’ or ‘Petya’ ever hits home turf.
According to a recent IBM study conducted by Ponemon Institute, while the average cost of a data breach in 2017 decreased by 10 per cent globally when compared to the 2016 figure, but for the Indian enterprises, it grew by 12.3 percent from Rs 97.3 million in 2016 to Rs 110 million in 2017.
Elaborating on the findings of the report, John Shier, Senior Security Expert at the Abingdon, UK-headquartered Sophos, did an interview with IANS and said, “India has well-trained, well-educated and capable IT people. The country has got access to all the tools it needs to secure its systems. Yet, in the case of a big cyber attack, India is still unprepared.”
Giving solution to the problem he mentions, Shier said that the country needs to do just three simple things to fix the issue to a certain extent, he said, “It is the time to look at the procedures and make sure they are implemented to secure the data. Firstly, it is needed to see that the things are done. Secondly, it needs to be checked if the things are done correctly and thirdly, test it repeatedly to make sure what has been done is done right.”
Sher believes that by doing the basics right, the companies can helps cybersecurity firms in staying one step ahead of the criminals.
The survey conducted by Ponemon Institute found out that at 41 per cent, malicious or criminal attacks were the main cause of data breach for the companies surveyed. The report also revealed that almost 33 per cent of the companies surveyed that experienced a data breach were a result of a system glitch and 26 per cent breaches were caused due to contractor or employee negligence.
It is important to understand that eliminating cyber risks completely is not possible as of yet, but one can still reduce these risks to a minuscule level by having well-configured security measures at place that keep an eye on illegal intrusion. The security measures being referred here are up-to-date softwares and firewalls.
However, often it is not the software or hardware that fails us, it is the human factor. In a majority of cyberattack cases, they enter the system by sending malicious emails to employees who out of curiosity end up taking the bait making the whole company system vulnerable.
This development was first reported by IANS’ Sourabh Kulesh.
[Image: Shutterstock]
According to a recent IBM study conducted by Ponemon Institute, while the average cost of a data breach in 2017 decreased by 10 per cent globally when compared to the 2016 figure, but for the Indian enterprises, it grew by 12.3 percent from Rs 97.3 million in 2016 to Rs 110 million in 2017.
Elaborating on the findings of the report, John Shier, Senior Security Expert at the Abingdon, UK-headquartered Sophos, did an interview with IANS and said, “India has well-trained, well-educated and capable IT people. The country has got access to all the tools it needs to secure its systems. Yet, in the case of a big cyber attack, India is still unprepared.”
Giving solution to the problem he mentions, Shier said that the country needs to do just three simple things to fix the issue to a certain extent, he said, “It is the time to look at the procedures and make sure they are implemented to secure the data. Firstly, it is needed to see that the things are done. Secondly, it needs to be checked if the things are done correctly and thirdly, test it repeatedly to make sure what has been done is done right.”
Sher believes that by doing the basics right, the companies can helps cybersecurity firms in staying one step ahead of the criminals.
The survey conducted by Ponemon Institute found out that at 41 per cent, malicious or criminal attacks were the main cause of data breach for the companies surveyed. The report also revealed that almost 33 per cent of the companies surveyed that experienced a data breach were a result of a system glitch and 26 per cent breaches were caused due to contractor or employee negligence.
It is important to understand that eliminating cyber risks completely is not possible as of yet, but one can still reduce these risks to a minuscule level by having well-configured security measures at place that keep an eye on illegal intrusion. The security measures being referred here are up-to-date softwares and firewalls.
However, often it is not the software or hardware that fails us, it is the human factor. In a majority of cyberattack cases, they enter the system by sending malicious emails to employees who out of curiosity end up taking the bait making the whole company system vulnerable.
This development was first reported by IANS’ Sourabh Kulesh.
[Image: Shutterstock]
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