Indian cos more vulnerable to web attacks

Independent findings of internet and data security company Symantec and research agency Frost and Sullivan suggest that Indian companies are susceptible to internet threats and are underspending on securities. The country ranked No.1 on the prevalence of internet virus attacks in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, according to data with Symantec.

Symantec revealed this in the findings of its IT security scenario in 2008, while Datacraft — a company providing software solutions for the manufacturing industry — had commissioned Frost and Sullivan to conduct a security-compliance survey of manufacturing companies in the country.

Symantec’s findings show that India features among the top three countries in the region to be affected by malicious activity on internet. While larger companies are taking steps for data security, small and medium businesses (smbs) are not worried. Ken Schneider, CTO (security and compliance), Symantec, said: “While data theft is the prime reason for attacks, 61% of Indian SMBs are unaware of security threats and 68% do not consider data loss as a major threat.


Unprotected infrastructure, lack of IT policies, poorly-protected information and poorly-managed systems are a cause of concern for businesses.”

According to Tony Murphy, solutions head (manufacturing), Datacraft: “The next two years are critical, as security threats will increase. Manufacturing companies are expanding their IT infrastructure, thus increasing the complexity of operations. However, they are not investing enough to meet challenges thrown up by this complexity. Most of them are also not compliant with the latest security standards,” Mr Murphy remarked.

The Symantec survey revealed that incidence of spam is increasing and 12% of spam in the APJ region originates from India. Mumbai features highest in the prevalence of internet attacks, contributing 37% of the affected computers, followed by Chennai at 24%. Globally, spam tripled in 2008 compared with 2007.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a consultancy, report, IPR and business information contribute 32% and 68%, respectively, of data loss and Symantec’s findings reveal that 59% of employees, who lost or left a job, walked away with some corporate information.