Infection rate of cyberattacks up 2% in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Cyber threats and hacking are more prone to metro cities, while it's alarmingly increasing in tier-II cities as well. The infection rate in cyber city Hyderabad rose to 41 per cent from 39 per cent recorded last quarter.

Bengaluru and Pune experienced 39 per cent and 35 per cent of cyberattacks, similar to the previous quarter.

While the economic boom has spurred fast track development across India with smaller cities becoming popular growth destinations, the cybersecurity awareness among companies in tier-2 regions is believed to be very low.

Further, number of cyber users is also relatively low when compared with metro cities. This situation has led tier-2 cities becoming a 'sweet spot' for cyber criminals across the world, reveals the Q2 findings of K7 Computing's Cyber Threat Monitor (CTM), the quarterly study on the Indian cybersecurity landscape, which highlights key issues and real-world problems.

Among metro cities, the cyber-attacks in Delhi ballooned in Q2 with a six per cent increase in the quarter-on-quarter infection rate.

Despite a two per cent decrease in infection rate from the last quarter, Chennai still remains most vulnerable at 46 per cent. Kolkata follows soon after at 41 per cent.

Ahmedabad, at 37 per cent, witnessed a one per cent drop in infection rate compared to the previous quarter, and Mumbai had an identical 30 per cent.

According to the study, Patna registered the highest percentile of cyberattacks at 47 per cent compared to the rest of the tier-2 cities covered in the study, and higher than any tier-1 city.

Guwahati, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, and Jaipur witnessed a massive 45 per cent, 44 per cent, 43 per cent and 40 per cent of cyber users coming under attack.

The study states that approximately three out of every ten Indian cyber users encountered one or more cyberattacks, while metro cities have experienced a similar number of cyberattacks, when compared to the previous quarter.

Commenting on the findings, J Kesavardhanan, Founder and CTO of K7 Computing, said: "It is definitely an area of real concern for the country that considers itself a nation of villages.

The positive trend of fast-growing Indian towns and smaller cities on the global landscape is certainly attracting the attention of cyber criminals who are becoming more and more sophisticated.

It is not only a major threat to enterprises in these areas but also to consumers who are becoming heavy cyber users because of low Internet data cost, and easy and affordable availability of devices which can be exploited."