Over 15% Online Shoppers In India Unaware Of Cyber Risks, Reveals McAfee Survey

Despite a 68% surge in the number of online shoppers after the pandemic broke out, only 27.5% of them use online security solutions. Cybersecurity firm McAfee’s  survey comes in the backdrop of rising cases of data breaches during the pandemic. Companies like BigBasket, Haldiram’s, Trucaller among others faced the brunt of it.

The survey also revealed that one in three Indians (29.5%) are shopping online 3-5 days a week and 15.7% are shopping every day with no awareness of cyber risks.

With deep discounts and competitive prices, half of the Indian consumers feel that cyber attacks are common during this period and yet 42% of them said that they are planning to shop online. 

“Shopping behaviours continue to evolve, with consumers skipping in-store purchases to a great extent and shifting a bulk of their festive purchases online,” Venkat Krishnapur, vice president of engineering and managing director, McAfee India, said in a statement. 

The survey also found out that 419 threats per minute in Q2, 2020, which is an increase of almost 12% over the previous quarter. 

“With cybercriminals looking to take advantage of this surge in online transactions, it is crucial that users stay mindful of potential risks and undertake necessary steps to protect themselves and their families this holiday season,” Krishnapur added.

Throwing light on cyber attacks in India, National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen (retd) Rajesh Pant said cyberattacks have gone up manifold and every day, four lakh pieces of malware are found and 375 cyberattacks were witnessed.

Speaking at an event, he said, “In such unprecedented times, you mentioned two Cs: the challenge of Corona and challenge of cyber. Actually, at the perch which I sit, there are 3 Cs. The third ‘C’ ofcourse is on our northern border, which is another challenge that we are facing. In such an environment, cyberattacks have gone up multi-fold. There are four lakh malwares, we find everyday and 375 cyberattacks take place (daily).”

Meanwhile, government data shows that in 2019 alone, India witnessed 3.94 lakh instances of cybersecurity breaches. In terms of hacking of state and central government websites, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) data shows that a total of 336 websites belonging to central ministries, departments and state governments were hacked between 2017 and 2019.

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