More than 90% Indians fear cyber attacks would disrupt economy

A survey has shown that more than nine in 10 Indians (92 per cent) adults were fearful of cyber hackers carrying out attacks on major industries and sectors of the economy, Team Channelworld reported.

The survey was conducted as part of a global study announced by Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS).

Of the 10 countries surveyed, India had the highest percentage of respondents who said they feared cyber-attacks.

Over one-third of Indian respondents (34 per cent) indicated they did not believe that it was possible to stop all cyber-attacks and six in 10 (61 per cent) - the highest among the surveyed countries - reported little faith in India's ability to keep up with cyber-attacks as they felt that government and organisations were not taking these threats seriously enough. China (48 per cent) and Mexico (47 per cent) were the next in line.

According to Michael Chertoff, co-founder and executive chairman, Chertoff Group, and former head of the US Department of Homeland Security, cyber-attacks were a clear and present threat to every industry, in every country throughout the world.

He added, the threat was real and industries needed a proactive and coordinated approach to protect their assets as also their intellectual property.