India not equipped to tackle cyber attacks: Experts

Chennai: Cyber security experts who convened in the city on Fr­iday to observe the World Security Day conference said India is highly vulnerable to cyber threats, as the country is not fully equ­ipped to tackle sophisticated attacks.

With cyber warfare bec­oming increasingly sophisticated, cyber security exp­erts stressed the need for gre­ater financial investme­nts in research and development. Addressing the gathering, Reserve Bank chief general ma­nager V. Vasa­nthan ur­ged bankers not to download any free anti-virus software as it leaves systems vulnerable. “In the name of free software, several hackers are circulating the torjan virus which is capable of stealing potential personal data of customers,” he said.

Cyber security expert Pra­sanna explained that individual laptops and personalised gadgets were susceptible to advanced persistent threats (ATPs) under which the cyber attack is mainly focused on personalised gadgets further targeting data centres. Many corporates have their classified data in their laptops, tho­ugh ATP hackers steal the classified data and sell it to their rival organisations, he said.

Israel, a world leader in the field of cyber security, has started to tap on the cyber security commerce. “Israel earns revenue up to 1.5 billion US dollar in 2012, the biggest purchasers being US companies. India is yet to tap this ma­rket,” said Menahem Ka­nafi, Co­nsul Gen­eral of Israel.

“Mobile computing exposes data present in the gadget to various parameters of attacks. Unless we find solutions at the earliest things will become complicated,” said Prof. C. Chellapan, de­an, College of Engin­eer­ing Guindy. CBI former director R.K. Raghavan said that India has developed a fairly well protected cyber network to protect classified documents. “It is impossible to develop 100 per cent protection, I am confident there is an evolving system to protect India from cyber attacks,” he said.

Next: Android, windows phones more vulnerable

Android, windows phones more vulnerable

Jackson jose | DC

Chennai: Android and windows en­a­bled phone users are more susceptible to cyber atta­cks compared to those who depend on OS (operating system) say cyber security experts.

In a symposium at the In­stitute of Technology Ma­­na­­g­ement and Research (IT­­MR), cyber experts tal­ked of imminent threats and the unpreparedness of public at large. “The more we march towards technology the more vulnerable we are becoming. Now­adays, companies employ passwords which expire in 15 days while in government systems, it remains the same since inception,” says Gunasekaran, chief financial officer of HTC Global Services.

Additional director general of police Sylendra Ba­bu who was at the function said, “The Tamil Nadu police is way ahead of our counterparts in countering cyber threats but there is a lot more that has to be do­ne. In 2012 39 cases of cyber crimes were prosecuted.”

Dr B. Muthkumaran, dep­uty general manager of IT­MR, says, “Recently there was an incident wh­ere the head of a major company received a mail. When he clicked on the mail not only was his computer hacked but a mail was sent from his ID to his employees whose computers were also hacked subsequently.”

As a caution, he pointed out that the public should abstain from putting bank details on phones and even if they do so, they should ensure that when it is sold the information is re­moved.
J. Ksavarhnana, chief executive officer (CEO) of K7 antivirus says, “India is our leading market now with almost 25 per cent inc­rease in sales every year. We are seeing more enterprises coming forward and asking us to look into their existing systems and locate vulnerable points.”