Almost 300% rise in cyber attacks in India in 2020, govt tells Parliament

Cyber attacks amid the Covid-19 pandemic rose by almost 300% last year in the country to reach 1,158,208 compared to 394,499 in 2019, the Union home ministry told Parliament on Tuesday, citing the data from Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).

The ministry did not elaborate on the attacks or the profile of attackers. But cyber experts said the spike could be linked to an increase in online activity last year particularly during the lockdown imposed to check the Covid-19 spread. The experts blamed a lack of cybersecurity awareness for phishing and malware attacks.

“CERT-In receives inputs from its situational awareness systems and threat intelligence sources about malware infections in networks of entities across sectors.