In metropolitan cities, cyber fraudsters understand how people think. It is not surprising that they provide certain services so quickly and efficiently to people with busy lives. Experts have found that this puts them at a higher risk of scams. With the help of cyber security pundits and regular victims of this problem, CNBC-TV18 gets to the bottom of the problem.
Major metropolitan cities are seen as prime targets for cybercriminals as cybercrime becomes more common. They set up more operations to achieve their goals.
It is possible to estimate the gravity of the situation by looking at Chennai, which has been the victim of nearly 8 million malware-related attacks in its history alone.
Metropolitan cities are more vulnerable to cybercrimes as they have a lot of digital infrastructure and online services available to them. However, they lack strong data protection policies for their customers. The rise in cybercrime focuses cybercriminals' attention on the major metropolitan areas of the country.
By simply looking at Chennai's condition, which received nearly 8 million malware-related attacks last year, one can determine the gravity of the situation, which can be calculated by looking at the condition there.
It has been announced by QuickHeal that more than 80,000 malware threats are detected and blocked every hour of the day, according to their official report. It has been estimated that there have been more than 1.91 million ransomware attacks to date. There have been numerous attacks resulting from the pandemic that have been used to benefit attackers. Arogya Setu is an app that you need to install on your smartphone if you want to attend Arogya Setu classes.
People and organizations needed to track Covid-19-related information on the internet and social media regularly. Due to this, attackers were able to take advantage of it and created fake COVID-19 links to spread these links.
Users clicked on the links in these messages, and malicious files were loaded onto their systems. Many of these files were detected and blocked by antivirus software. It was not only covid-19 that was included in the phishing links, but also other things like offers for jobs, free internet, online money, and other interesting things as well.
Among the services QuickHeal provides, it has been reported that people are starting to become more familiar with the use of digital tools and antivirus software to protect their computers. Despite all this, there is still a long way to go since Internet usage is not considered a healthy activity by most people.
In the order of most detected malware, the following were the most detected malware types: Trojans, Infectors, Worms, and Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs). The threat landscape still has its place for ransomware as it continues to encrypt sensitive user information, which is then sold on the dark web by attackers in exchange for money.
Cybersecurity experts do not take data security very seriously and rely on third parties to maintain their data. According to these experts, many of these companies outsource their data maintenance to third parties. These third parties then sell the data to cyber criminals and cyber criminals get easy access to the data. Having more data means more opportunities for cyber fraudsters to commit fraud.
In 2019, according to the National Crime Record Bureau, there were 18,500 cases of cyber fraud reported in 19 metropolitan cities of the country, which accounted for 41 percent of the total cases of cyber fraud detected in the country. This number increased marginally in 2020 as 18,657 cases were reported in the metropolises of India - 37 percent of India's total number of cases that year.
In contrast, cyber fraud cases in metropolitan cities have decreased since 2021, according to statistics - there were 17,115 reported cases - accounting for 32 percent of the total cases relating to cyber fraud in India.
It is estimated that there are many more cases than reported, according to experts.
As a result of the high number of cybercrime incidents targeting metropolitan cities, the authorities are aware of this problem. Several states and cities have created specialized cyber cells to combat such frauds, and they work together. Although, these authorities allege that operation hurdles have made it difficult to eradicate such crimes, which makes bringing them down difficult.
When a person has realized that they have been scammed by a scammer, experts recommend that they log onto the cybercrime portal or call 1930 immediately. The experts suggest that any request for personal information, such as debit or credit card pins, or a one-time password should raise red flags and should be reported as soon as possible.
Furthermore, these experts urge that all online transactions should only be carried out through secure, verified portals, and individuals should not upload sensitive documents or information to unverified or unknown portals without prior confirmation from the portal's owner.
Cybersecurity experts recommend that people avoid answering video calls from unknown numbers and not fall for lucrative offers. Anything that appears too unbelievable to be true is a scam. Thus, the best method of preventing cybercrime remains precaution and awareness.
As per the findings of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 962 cybercrime cases were reported in India in 2014, 11592 cases were investigated in 2015, and 12,317 cases were reported in 2016. I believe that cybercrime incidents in India are increasing.
Business is moving online, which means organizations have to ensure the network that their customers are using is safe and secure. As well as upgrading their technology, they should also hire employees with good management and security skills, who are trained in the protocols of security management, and who are adept at managing and securing sensitive customer data.
The protection of adults' data is of paramount importance, especially for those over the age of 75. These people have an insufficient understanding of how technology works at the moment. As a result, companies and individuals both must understand how to tackle cyberattacks and educate the public about their detection.
