India, Japan working to improve cyber security

19 Sep 2014

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India and Japan are working closely to reduce spam and malware email affecting the banking, government, telecommunications and energy sectors, after security provider Trend Micro in Tokyo ranked the two countries among the worst affected by such attacks, Japanese media reported.

"India and Japan are working closely to check and reduce such spam mails," Gulshan Rai, director general of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), told the Nikkei, noting that spam is the main malware vector.

Rai said two countries regularly exchange data on spam prevalence using programmes like Tsubame Practice for internet monitoring and analysis.

India's CERT-In and JPCERT/CC (Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center) have a memorandum of understanding in place for long-term co-operation on cyber security, and the agencies exchange information continuously on security breaches.

Rai's comments came on the heels of a report by TrendLabs, the research and development arm of Trend Micro, ranking Japan, the US and India as the three countries most affected by online banking malware in April-June 2014.

"Mobile and internet banking adoption is growing," said Myla V Pilao, director of TrendLab.

Widespread use of Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, as well as e-commerce sites such as Flipkart, shows that Indian users are sharing, consuming and shopping a lot online, she said, adding that mobile usage has already surpassed personal computer traffic on the internet.

Pilao believes India's online landscape is "very attractive" to cyber-criminals. The number of online banking infections in India indicates that users are still susceptible to phishing scams and malicious social networking updates.

"As a basic step, awareness and education is very important," says Pilao. "End-users must keep themselves up to date with the latest threats, make sure that their systems or devices are updated and patched and installed with security solutions -- and practice safe Internet browsing and computing habits."

Rai said cyber-attacks in India have risen from about 250 in 2005 to more than 70,000 by December 2013. "The increase in number of attacks is largely due to increased penetration of information technology in every sector," he said.

With the exponential spread of the internet, cyber security has become much more of a priority area for the Indian government. A National Cyber Coordination Centre is also on the anvil.

"The projected demand security professionals is 500,000 for the next three years," says Rai, estimating that there are at present only about 45,000 in the country. He said capacity development is being addressed through public-private partnerships.

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