Imminent threat of ransomware needs serious and immediate attention, says Dr Pant
India has been one of the worst affected countries by ransomware crime. Last year, 49% of companies in India suffered multiple ransomware attacks, while 76% have experienced at least one, according to a recent report by US security firm Crowdstrike.
This makes India among the top 3 most affected countries when it comes to ransomware and demonstrates that it is critical for Indian businesses to protect themselves against cybercrime, according to a report.
“Organizations in India need to be aware of these threats and need to make cybersecurity a top priority as the number of cyber-attacks is on the rise,” said Nitin Bhatnagar, Associate Director – India, PCI Security Standards Council.
“As an industry-leading organization for payment security in India, we are issuing this bulletin to help educate those who work in payments and security about the presence and growing risk of ransomware attacks.
“Organizations in India need to be aware of these threats and need to make cybersecurity a top priority as the number of cyber-attacks is on the rise,” he said on 10 Mar 2022.
A ransomware attack involves cyber criminals gaining access to your network, systems and data and then rendering parts of these unusable, and/or stealing some of the data you have stored. The cyber-actor then ‘ransoms’ the data back by requiring payment to provide a decryption key to allow for the recovery of the encrypted data and systems or to guarantee sensitive data is not further exposed.
Ransomware attacks are often the result of a phishing attack, when a company employee clicks on a malicious link, or the exploitation of known vulnerabilities in outdated software.
When it comes to protecting payment card data, which is often the target of a cyber-attack, adherence to the PCI DSS is considered a best practice. It consists of steps that mirror industry accepted security best practices and at a high level requires you to consider how to mitigate the impact of a cyber-attack.
“The imminent threat of ransomware needs serious and immediate attention,” added Lt Gen. Dr. Rajesh Pant, National Cybersecurity Coordinator, Prime Minister’s Office.
“We have seen a rise in the number of ransomware attacks over the last 2 years in India. Cybercrime is growing and evolving at a rapid pace which makes it crucial for us to be equipped with the right tools and information to tackle it.
“We are pleased to see global payment security standards body PCI SSC’s constant efforts to educate businesses and government organization on the best practices to tackle such threats,” he said.
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) leads a global, cross-industry effort to increase payment security by providing industry-driven, flexible, and effective data security standards and programs that help businesses detect, mitigate, and prevent cyberattacks and breaches. fiinews.com
