1 in 3 Indian Netizens under cyber-attacks: K7 computing’s cyber threat monitor

New Delhi, September 11, 2019: Indian netizens are under regular cyber-attacks with almost 1 in 3 users in the country encountering cyber-attacks in the Q1 of the current fiscal 2019–20, reveals the latest findings of K7 Computing’s Cyber Threat Monitor (CTM), which is one of the largest and deepest study on the Indian cybersecurity landscape. The study also detected that South India’s Metros – including Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad have witnessed more cyber-attacks than Tier1 cities in other parts of the country – North, West and East. K7 Computing’s CTM is a quarterly report that provides an insightful look into the complex cybersecurity landscape in India and makes cyber safety recommendations that address both Enterprise and Consumer segments. As a part of this process, K7 Computing real-world telemetry data from almost 7 million unique devices and K7 Labs security incident investigation data were studied and presented in the form of an index. The report tracks all critical components like Enterprise, Mobile, Mac, Windows and IoT, covering 20 Indian cities that includes Metros, Tier1 and Tier2 regions. According to the report, amongst Tier1 cities, Chennai has recorded the highest percentile of cyber-attacks with 48% in Q1, followed by Kolkata with 41% during the same period. The Capital city of India, Delhi has registered the lowest percentile of cyber-attacks with 28% in Q1. As per the report, cyber risk exposure steadily rises on working days in Metros, starting from Monday, and records the highest on Friday. In terms of time of day, the cyber riskiest hour in the Metros is around 4 PM and the cyber safest is around 6 AM. The average percentage of cyber-attacks in the top dozen infected Tier2 cities was found to be worse when compared to Metros and Tier 1 regions. In the first quarter, Patna experienced the highest percentile of cyber-attacks (48%), closely followed by Guwahati (46%) and Lucknow (45%), while Thiruvananthapuram stood safest among others at 35%. Commenting on the findings, K Purushothaman, CEO of K7 Computing said, “K7 Computing’s K7 Labs’ Cyber Threat Monitor highlights the ever-evolving threat landscape around the country and addresses the growing necessity of being more proactive in the approach towards cybersecurity. We see an increasing number of cyber-attacks in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, and therefore, we urge concerned stakeholders to leverage specific intelligence for countermeasures and threat hunting. As a pioneer in the industry, K7 Computing will continue to spread cybersecurity awareness and help its customers to mitigate risks by building a cyber-safe environment.”