50 hacking cases in one month post-demonetisation, says expert

New Delhi: Following the November 8 demonetisation, cyber security solutions provider TAC Security received more than 50 hacking incidents in a month's time, the company revealed on Tuesday. The incidents included ransomware, financial frauds and website hacking in various Indian enterprises.

TAC Security's specially designed service -- Cyber Emergency Response Team (TAC-CERT) -- received hacking complaints that included seven distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, 12 E-mail hacks, 24 ransomware attacks, four financial frauds through email and six website hackings across verticals such as export companies, pharmaceutical companies, IT companies, manufacturers of electrical parts and a hospital.

While the hospital experienced data breach, export companies encountered ransomware and financial loss while IT companies faced DDoS attacks.

"This shows how vulnerable we are. The risks are not confined to banks or financial institutions but rather every industry and domain that you can think of. Myriad reports confirm this fact," said Trishneet Arora, CEO of TAC Security.

In a move to help the organisations reduce the risk of hacking, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has ordered a review of the entire IT infrastructure in the country.

The government recently announced to set up the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) to provide near real-time situational awareness and rapid response to cyber attacks. The centre is expected to be operational by March 2017.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has also ordered review of the IT Act, 2000, and set up a crack team to respond to cyber security incidents quickly.

"TAC CERT helps organisations in quick recovery by patching the loopholes and within hours, your service will be back to normal and function smoothly," Arora added.