Explore Business Standard
Malware
The country's biggest hospitality player Indian Hotels Company Limited has reported a malware incident, saying immediate action has been taken to contain the impact and secure its systems, maintaining that the Tata Group-owned firm is closely monitoring the situation while operating business as usual. Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) informed about the incident in a regulatory filing on Thursday. "We would like to inform the exchanges that the Company has detected a malware incident, affecting select IT systems and immediate action has been taken to contain the impact and secure the systems. The relevant authorities have been duly notified. The Company continues to monitor the situation closely while operating business as usual," Indian Hotels Company Limited stated in the filing. Benares Hotels, a subsidiary of IHCL, also posted a similar regulatory filing on Friday, informing the stock exchanges regarding the IT security incident. Benares Hotels Limited is a listed public ...
India has emerged as the most-targeted nation for malware attacks, topping global charts, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) fuelling a surge in ransomware, a new report by cybersecurity firm Acronis has said. The biannual report covers the global threat landscape as encountered by the Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) and Acronis sensors on Windows endpoints from January through June 2025. Based on signals from over one million unique endpoints distributed around the world, the report also incorporates statistics focused on threats targeting Windows operating systems, given their prevalence as compared to macOS and Linux. India emerged as the most targeted country globally, with 12.4 per cent of monitored endpoints affected, highlighting the nation's growing vulnerability to sophisticated threats such as AI-powered phishing and impersonation attacks, according to Acronis. "Ransomware remains the major threat for large and medium-sized businesses, with new groups increasingly ...
The websites of major government departments in Uttarakhand which were temporarily closed due to a malware attack in the 'State Data Center' were restored on Sunday. Nitika Khandelwal, Director of Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), said that major websites like 'Apni Sarkar', 'E-Office', 'E-Ravanna portal and Chardham registration have been restored while the CM Helpline and 'State Portal' were restored on Saturday. The cyber attack took place on Wednesday, on a government holiday. Due to the shutdown of the online system, some of the work was done manually. Other works including verification of ration card holders were closed. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a high-level meeting reviewing the recent malware attack that temporarily closed down the state's data centre. Taking stock of the situation, he directed the officials to complete the scanning of the state's data centre and restore all the important websites and online services by ...
Malware attacks in India rose by 11 per cent while ransomware cyber attacks jumped by 22 per cent in 2024, reflecting the escalating nature of cyber threats for businesses, a report by SonicWall said. Malware attacks rose by 11 per cent to 13,44,566 in 2024 from 12,13,528 in 2023, the 2024 SonicWall Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report said. Internet of Things (IOT) attacks went up by 59 per cent in the last one year to 16,80,787 in 2024 from 10,57,320 in 2023, it stated. While ransomware attacks went up by 22 per cent, India saw a surge in crypto attacks by 409 per cent, the report said. Organizations today confront a dynamic threat landscape where threat actors continually innovate to outpace enterprise defenses, SonicWall Vice President, APJ Sales Debasish Mukherjee said. At least 12.6 per cent of an organization's annual revenues were at risk to cyber threats as businesses endured on average 1,104 hours of critical attacks during a span of 880 working hours, the report said. Cyber ..
The number of devices compromised with data-stealing malware has increased more than 600 per cent in the past three years, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. Kaspersky's Digital Footprint Intelligence data showed the number of personal and corporate devices compromised with data-stealing malware reached 10 million in 2023, registering a 643 per cent increase over the past three years. "According to Kaspersky's assessment, the number of infections that occurred in 2023 is projected to reach roughly 16,000,000," it said, noting an increase in the threat posed by data-stealers for both consumers and businesses. Cyber criminals steal an average of 50.9 log-in credentials per infected device, it said, adding that these credentials may encompass log-ins for social media, online banking services, crypto wallets, and various online services including email. The data, which drew insights from infostealer malware log files traded on underground markets, showed the actual number of ..
Accessing pirated websites carries a higher risk of malware infection for Indian consumers compared to other platforms like those of adult content and gambling advertisements, says a study conducted by cybersecurity experts. Indian consumers underestimate their true cyber risk when using piracy sites, and there is an urgent need to address cybersecurity threats associated with these websites, as per the study by experts at the Indian School of Business (ISB). The 18-24 age group exhibits low awareness levels of cyber risks despite frequent engagement with these platforms, said 'The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis' report released here on Tuesday. It has been co-authored by Professor Manish Gangwar and Dr Shruti Mantri from the ISB Institute of Data Science and Dr Paul Watters, adjunct professor of cybersecurity at the La Trobe University, Melbourne. According to the report, "accessing pirated websites carries a higher risk of malwa
Piracy websites pose a higher threat of malware to Indian consumers, surpassing the risk from adult sites and gambling advertisements, a study said on Tuesday. Accessing piracy sites carries a higher risk of malware (59 per cent) compared to the adult industry (57 per cent) and gambling advertisements (53 per cent), the study -- The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis -- conducted by the Indian School of Business (ISB) said. The study is based on a survey conducted during May 23-29, 2023 among 1,037 respondents aged over 18 in India as part of the YouGov National Omnibus. Digital piracy poses significant risks to India's cultural outputs across various entertainment sectors, which refer to unauthorised copying, distribution, or sharing of copyrighted content, including movies, music, TV shows, books, software, and other forms of creative works, the study said. Piracy impacts the revenue streams of the Indian entertainment industry, ...