Cyberattacks

The disturbing trend, according to CERT, is that the proportion of attacks aimed at financial networks has seen an increase, perhaps an indication that most attackers now realise that any disruption in financial markets and networks for a substantial period of time could cripple a country’s economy.

This year, one in every five attacks targeted financial networks; and almost the same proportion was aimed at a government department or unit; around 15% of the attacks targeted power plants, oil refineries, and oil and gas pipelines. Telecom and defence communication networks were next in line.

Hackers siphoned off about ₹89 crore from Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd — one of the oldest cooperative banks in India — and transferred the money into various foreign and domestic bank accounts this August. Subsequent investigations revealed the bank’s systems were hacked into twice before the breach was detected. The first attack took place on August 11 between 3pm and 10pm and on August 13 at 11.30am. Investigations revealed about 14,800 fraudulent transactions to withdraw ₹80.5 crore — ₹78 crore through 12,000 transactions in 28 countries, the rest in India.

India’s top IT security official said that the cyber threats faced by India are no different than those faced by other countries. “The attacks, penetration on the ICT infrastructure are increasing across the country in line with the trend across the world. The Indian situation in line with the world,” National Cyber Security Coordinator Gulshan Rai said. According to Rai, who used to be the chief of CERT, it isn’t surprising that there has been an increase in the number of cyberattacks because of “the very nature of technology where no product comes with a secure hard/software”.

Increasing consumer usage of IT is one reason, he added, because “the home sector does not follow safe practices”. Still, says Rai, India is better off than “many advanced countries” and several attacks have been prevented.