‘Cyberattacks up multi-fold in current environment’

National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen (retd) Rajesh Pant said every day, 4 lakh malware are found and 375 cyber-attacks are witnessed

Mumbai: Referring to China as a major “challenge” from a cybersecurity perspective for India, National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen (retd) Rajesh Pant on Monday said cyberattacks have gone up multifold in the current environment.

Pant, who took over the role of India’s cybersecurity chief, said every day, 4 lakh malware are found and 375 cyber-attacks are witnessed. “In such unprecedented times, you mentioned two Cs – the challenge of corona and challenge of cyber. Actually, at the perch which I sit, there are 3 Cs. The third ‘C’ of course is on our northern border, which is another challenge that we are facing.

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“In such an environment, cyber-attacks have gone up multi-fold. There are 4 lakh malware, we find every day. 375 cyber-attacks take place,” Pant said at an event organised by largest private sector lender HDFC Bank. He said apart from falling prey to voice call-based frauds, people should also be very careful about the click-baits, which are deployed to extract information from an internet user.

“This disease of just clicking on the link, this is another reason where the malware drops,” he said, asking everybody to study the recent cases of frauds at City Union Bank where a person entered the core banking system through a click, and also the ones at Bangladesh Bank and Cosmos Bank.

Vulnerabilities will continue to exist and the only solution against those is personal cyber hygiene and technological steps, Pant added. HDFC Bank launched the ‘Mooh Bandh Rakho’ campaign to create awareness through various mediums, including over 1,000 secure banking workshops and also a rap-song. Bank officials said the target is to focus on the youth.

“The issue is some of us get unawares and that’s how problems start occurring. It’s a question of being conscious all the time, not a question of not knowing,” its chief risk officer Jimmy Tata said.