Internet-borne threats in India witnessed a drastic spike in the second quarter of 2021, as compared to the first quarter of the year, noted a recent report published by global Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy company- Kaspersky. The number of web threats in Q2 increased at dual speed when compared to Q1 2021. The statistics according to the recent Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) report show a concerning rise in the number of threats targeted at Indian internet users during the period between April- July 2021.
In the period April-June 2021, Kaspersky products detected and blocked around 8.30 crore (8,30,45,576) different Internet-borne cyberthreats on the devices of KSN participants in India. Comparing this with the number of threats detected in the period between Jan-March 2021, which was around 3.76 crore (3,76,50,472), there has been a two-fold increase in the number of web-borne threats in Q2 2021.
This places India in the 37th place worldwide when it comes to the dangers associated with surfing the web. While comparing the threats detected in the second quarter of 2020 and 2021, the number of threats increased almost 8 fold from 1.67 crore (1,67,67,797) threats in Q2 2020 to 8.30 crore (8,30,45,576) threats in Q2 2021.
Infection in this type of attack takes place when visiting an infected website, without any intervention from the user and without their knowledge. This method is used in the majority of attacks. Among them, file-less malware and social engineering attacks are the most dangerous.
On the positive side, the KSN report also observed a steep decrease in the local threats detected in India from the period between April-July 2021. During this time, Kaspersky products detected and blocked around 2.64 crore (2,64,33,410) local incidents on the devices of KSN participants in India. The number of local threats detected in Q1 2021 were around 3.98 crore (3,98,10,510) and in Q2 2020 these threats accounted for almost 4.19 crore (4,19,30,129).
The use of local infection statistics for user computers is an extremely important indicator. Worms and file viruses account for the majority of such incidents. This data shows how frequently users are attacked by malware spread via removable USB drives, CDs and DVDs, and other “offline” methods. The reduction in local infections could also be a result of the Work from Home ecosystem.
The number of attacks hosted by Indian servers were also limited at 17 lakh (17,40,327) incidents that were detected in the period between April-June 2021.
Dipesh Kaura, General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia) commented, “The increase in the number of internet-borne threats targeted at Indian internet users is definitely a cause of serious concern. In just one year the cybercriminals became almost 8 times more active in targeting internet users in order to achieve great financial gains. Indian consumers are at an even greater risk due to the lack of cybersecurity awareness and cyber maturity amongst the growing number of Internet users.”
“Our recent associations with government organization- Cert-In and telecom service provider Airtel, were an integral part of our strategy to increase the level of cybersecurity awareness and maturity amongst the Indian users and businesses. And we will continue to partner with other important intuitions in order to further achieve the desired level of Cyber Maturity and even move towards attaining Cyber Immunity in the coming years”, added Mr. Kaura.
Consumers can now conveniently purchase Kaspersky security solutions on buymysecurity.com or through the Airtel Thanks App at great prices.
