India sees 280% Rise in Bot Infections: Symantec

Symantec Corp. has revealed that India has seen a 280-per cent increase in bot infections that is continuing to spread to a larger number of emerging cities in India. With the prevalence of such infections, it is not surprising that the country accounts for nearly 15 per cent of global bot-net spam, responsible for disseminating an estimated 280 million spam messages per day worldwide.

In addition, the report highlights a 42-per cent surge during 2012 in global targeted attacks, as compared to the prior year. Designed to steal intellectual property, these targeted cyber espionage attacks are increasingly hitting small businesses, which are the target of 31 per cent of these attacks across the world. Small businesses are attractive targets themselves and a stepping stone to ultimately reaching larger companies.

"This year's ISTR shows a clear focus among cybercriminals at targeting individuals, systems and organizations where the highest profits can be made. India continues to rank high in the list for even the most basic threats, pointing to an urgent need for improved awareness levels and security measures, even as the country's adoption of Internet and mobile technologies is on the rise," said Anand Naik, Managing Director – Sales, India & SAARC, Symantec.

The report further revealed that the global average number of targeted attacks per day in 2012 was 116, compared with 82 in 2011 and 77 in 2010, recording a 42-per cent increase in the targeted attacks.