India is becoming most vulnerable for cyber attacks like ransomware and spear-phishing has cost Indian individuals and companies some $4 billion According to Symantec’s 2013 Norton Report. A research report found an alarming 136 percent increase in cyber threats and attacks against Indian government organizations and a 126 percent spike in attacks targeting financial services organizations.
Last year brought a marked increase in the frequency of cyber attacks on Indian assets, with government and private infrastructure equally affected. A research report found an alarming 136 percent increase in cyber threats and attacks against Indian government organizations and a 126 percent spike in attacks targeting financial services organizations. According to Symantec’s 2013 Norton Report, by July 2013, sophisticated cyber assaults like ransomware and spear-phishing has cost Indian individuals and companies some $4 billion.
At a time of heightened online breaches phishing, defaced websites, network break-ins, virus attacks the Indian government published its first ever National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP), in early July, 2013.
Cyber attacks:
1. Cyber attacks were reported on the Indian Navy’s Eastern Command systems in June 2012. The Eastern Naval Command oversees the maritime activities in the South China Sea, as well as the development of ballistic missile submarines.
2. On July 12, 2013, just days after the NCSP was released, several high-level officials of the GOI reported their emails had been hacked. A subsequent investigation put the total number of hacked accounts at roughly 12,000, including systems from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP). Even the main National Informatics Centre email server, which serves as the nexus for all government departments, was believed to have been affected.
According to the officers from the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), India’s premier technical intelligence agency under the NSA, believed that the hacks were directed at networks hosting state secrets.
While any number of countries could be after secrets from the foreign and home ministries and DRDO, only one would be interested in ITBP: China, with which India has a long-running boundary dispute. This, along with the PLA’s recent involvement in cross-globe cyber espionage, should be ringing alarm bells in New Delhi. The U.S. recently indicated five People’s Liberation Army officers for hacking and economic espionage, in what is known as the Unit 61398 case. Although Beijing has repeatedly denied state involvement, a 2009 executive summary prepared for the American Congress by Northrop Grumman states that the nature of the malicious software being used was designed to steal data only a nation-state would want, primarily seeking defense-engineering specifications, military operational information, and U.S.-China policy documents.
There are few reports of Pakistan and India indulging in overtly threatening cyber warfare, although in recent times, hacker groups based out of Lahore and Karachi have managed to break into the websites of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), mostly to deface the sites and leave hate mail. However, it is widely speculated that regional terrorist outfits, such as the Indian Mujahideen (IM), make heavy use of social media sites to not only communicate effectively, but also to conduct recruitment drives, all under the government’s nose. Any cyber policy instituted by the GOI will need to actively deal with these issues.
Last year brought a marked increase in the frequency of cyber attacks on Indian assets, with government and private infrastructure equally affected. A research report found an alarming 136 percent increase in cyber threats and attacks against Indian government organizations and a 126 percent spike in attacks targeting financial services organizations. According to Symantec’s 2013 Norton Report, by July 2013, sophisticated cyber assaults like ransomware and spear-phishing has cost Indian individuals and companies some $4 billion.
At a time of heightened online breaches phishing, defaced websites, network break-ins, virus attacks the Indian government published its first ever National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP), in early July, 2013.
Cyber attacks:
1. Cyber attacks were reported on the Indian Navy’s Eastern Command systems in June 2012. The Eastern Naval Command oversees the maritime activities in the South China Sea, as well as the development of ballistic missile submarines.
2. On July 12, 2013, just days after the NCSP was released, several high-level officials of the GOI reported their emails had been hacked. A subsequent investigation put the total number of hacked accounts at roughly 12,000, including systems from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP). Even the main National Informatics Centre email server, which serves as the nexus for all government departments, was believed to have been affected.
According to the officers from the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), India’s premier technical intelligence agency under the NSA, believed that the hacks were directed at networks hosting state secrets.
While any number of countries could be after secrets from the foreign and home ministries and DRDO, only one would be interested in ITBP: China, with which India has a long-running boundary dispute. This, along with the PLA’s recent involvement in cross-globe cyber espionage, should be ringing alarm bells in New Delhi. The U.S. recently indicated five People’s Liberation Army officers for hacking and economic espionage, in what is known as the Unit 61398 case. Although Beijing has repeatedly denied state involvement, a 2009 executive summary prepared for the American Congress by Northrop Grumman states that the nature of the malicious software being used was designed to steal data only a nation-state would want, primarily seeking defense-engineering specifications, military operational information, and U.S.-China policy documents.
There are few reports of Pakistan and India indulging in overtly threatening cyber warfare, although in recent times, hacker groups based out of Lahore and Karachi have managed to break into the websites of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), mostly to deface the sites and leave hate mail. However, it is widely speculated that regional terrorist outfits, such as the Indian Mujahideen (IM), make heavy use of social media sites to not only communicate effectively, but also to conduct recruitment drives, all under the government’s nose. Any cyber policy instituted by the GOI will need to actively deal with these issues.
