Incidence of cybercrime in India surged steeply in 2015: Report

The incidence of cybercrime in India, surged steeply in 2015, with 72 per cent companies in the country falling prey to online attacks this year, a survey report said.

"Around 72 per cent of Indian companies faced cyberattacks this year alone. Ninety-four per cent respondents indicated that cybercrime is a major threat faced by organisations, but surprisingly only 41 per cent indicated that it forms part of the board agenda," the KPMG Cybercrime Survey Report 2015 prepared by KPMG in India said.

The survey report was released in the presence of Mumbai police commissioner Ahmed Javed yesterday.

Of the over 250 C-suite executives that participated in the 83 per cent indicated that there was usually external involvement in cyberattacks with directors/management being most vulnerable according to 64 per cent, the report said. "It was also alarming to note that 54 per cent indicated that spend on cyberdefences is less than five per cent of the IT spend," he added.

Javed urged companies to approach police rather than letting the incidents go unreported.
"The reason for this (incidents being unreported), usually, is that the company is afraid of its reputation being spoilt in the market or his shares might come down," said Javed.

Further, advancement and adoption of technology had enabled criminals to leverage it to carry out crime, he said.

He informed that the Mumbai police ran a dedicated cyber police station and was continuously strengthening itself by undertaking trainings to deal with cybercrime cases, he informed.

"It is critical for the citizens, both corporates and individuals, to be aware of cyberrisks and not fall a prey to the phishing scams. We are undertaking a drive to educate and create an awareness among citizens with reference to cyber-threats," Javed said.