Over 69 percent of targeted attacks in india focus on large enterprises reveals Symantec report
Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), Volume 19, shows a significant shift in cybercriminal behavior, revealing the bad guys are plotting for months before pulling off huge heists – instead of executing quick hits with smaller rewards. It further reveals that attackers are unrelenting in their focus on large enterprises with over 69 percent or more than 2/3rds of the targeted attacks in India carried out on them.
“One mega breach can be worth 50 smaller attacks,” said Tarun Kaura, Director, Technology Sales at Symantec India. “While the level of sophistication continues to grow among attackers, what was surprising last year was their willingness to be a lot more patient – waiting to strike until the reward is bigger and better.”
Globally, there was a 62 percent increase in the number of data breaches from the previous year, resulting in more than 552 million identities exposed – proving cybercrime remains a real and damaging threat to consumers and businesses alike. Each of the eight top data breaches in 2013 resulted in the loss of tens of millions of data records. By comparison, 2012 only had a single data breach reach that threshold.
In India, cyber criminals are unrelenting in their focus on large enterprises with a staggering 69 percent targeted attacks carried out against them. Despite stepping up their information security measures, businesses in India continue to be an attractive target for cybercriminals. Not surprisingly, in India, small businesses received the highest number of phishing and virus-bearing emails – almost three times as much as the larger targets.
In India, nearly four in 10 attacks were carried out on non-traditional services industries like hospitality, business and personal services. This was followed by attacks on manufacturing, finance and insurance. India emerged as a key threat frontier, ranking as the third highest source of overall malicious activity.
