The frequency and severity of cyber attacks seem to be increasing at an alarming rate with every passing year. In fact, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is expected to cost the global economy a colossal $6 trillion per year by 2021. India is often said to be one of the countries worst hit by cybercrimes. And now, a new study seems to confirm that.
As per latest data by US-based think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), India experienced the third-highest number of ‘significant’ cyber attacks in a fourteen-year period between May 2006 and June 2020. India reportedly fell victim to 23 significant cyber attacks, the latest of which came just last month. The attack reportedly targeted nine human rights activists to log their keystrokes, record their conversations and steal their personal credentials.
The data also revealed that the US experienced the most number of significant cyber attacks with 156 incidents between May 2006 and June 2020. Meanwhile, the UK came in at number two with 47 cyber attacks over the same period. Interestingly, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia each saw the same number (15) of significant cyber attacks in that time period. At the other end of the spectrum, North Korea experienced only 5 significant cyber attacks during the last fourteen years.
The report comes from Specops Software, which analyzed the CSIS data as part of a study on global cyber crime. According to the report, the techniques most commonly used for these attacks include DoS, SQL Injection, MitM and Phishing. It’s not immediately clear as to how many of them were state-sponsored and how many related to corporate espionage.
