According to a new report, the Indian healthcare sector has emerged as a major target for hackers, suffering an average of 6,935 cyberattacks per week over the past six months. According to cybersecurity vendor Check Point Software Technologies, this trend has highlighted the growing attack surface due to the rapid adoption of technologies such as electronic health records (EHR), telemedicine and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
“The simplicity of spoofing email addresses and the ability to deliver crafted content make email a powerful tool for spreading malware, stealing credentials and executing social engineering attacks,” said Sundar Balasubramanian, MD for India and SAARC at Check Point Software Technologies.
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How to stay safe from hackers?
“Check Point urges users to avoid opening unverified email attachments, use strong passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and be wary of unsolicited or suspicious emails,” it added.
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The sectors most vulnerable to cyber attacks
According to the report, after the healthcare sector, the most targeted sectors in India are education and research (6,244 attacks), consulting (3,989 attacks), and government and military (3,618 attacks). The report also highlights that Indian organizations, on average, were attacked 2,924 times per week over the past six months, compared to 1,401 attacks per organization globally.
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Malware: a major cyber threat in India
The most prevalent malware in India was ‘Fake Updates’accompanied by other malicious software such as ‘botnets’ and a remote access trojan (RAT) called ‘Remcos’Information disclosure was the most commonly exploited vulnerability in India, affecting 72 percent of organizations, followed by remote code execution which affected 62 percent, and authentication bypass which affected 52 percent.
In the past 30 days, 63 percent of malicious files in India were delivered via email, while 37 percent were delivered via the web. Notably, 58 percent of the top malicious files sent via email were executable files, while 59 percent of malicious files sent via the web were PDF files, the report said.
Smart ways to prevent cyber attacks
“Precautionary measures (1✔ ✔Reliable source
10 ways to prevent cyber attacks
), such as regular software updates, employee training, and implementation of advanced security solutions, are essential to mitigate the growing threat landscape,” Balasubramanian said.
References:
- 10 ways to prevent cyber attacks – (https://leaf-it.com/10-ways-to-prevent-cyber-attacks/)
Source-IANS
