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by Rajen Kumar

No Escaping Social Media

Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...

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Apr 2012

EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner

EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...

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SMEs More Vulnerable to Cyber Crimes

SME WORLD Bureau
Jul 2010

Now more than ever, cyber criminals are going after the smaller businesses that do not have the high-level security of their enterprise counterparts. The SMBs require complete level of protection with greater choice and flexibility for protecting the information that drives their businesses. Although the majority of small or mid-sized businesses have some form of backup solution in place, these solutions are often time-consuming to operate, are inconsistently used, or offer insufficient protection from disasters such as fires and floods. The businesses are faced with problems like lack of staff time and expertise, and limited budgets.

Vineet Sood, head ,Channels and Alliances, Symantec India in conversation with SME WORLD

With the continuous increase in Internet users across the world, new and new viruses are also invading the web world. How and why do the new viruses develop?

According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, India with its rapid growth in infrastructure and broadband population has around 71 mn internet users. But this has also led to rampant software piracy increasing India’s rank among countries affected by malicious activities online. According to the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report XV report, India ranks 5th globally for overall malicious activities in 2009, up from 11th in 2008. For an SMB user, the vulnerabilities multiply as they are not so aware and proactive towards protecting their data.

According to the Symantec 2009 SMB Security & Storage survey,61 percent of Indian SMBs were unaware of the present day IT security threats. With newer forms of viruses coming into the picture the vulnerability of information increases and hence gives unauthorized access to cyber criminals. While earlier, hackers looking to become famous carried out widespread attacks that brought down the internet infrastructure and generated headlines, today’s attacks are targeted and carried out in a stealthy manner by cyber criminals with a more insidious motive – financial gain. Since information is the most valuable asset today, malware is created with the intention of stealing confidential data such as credit card details, intellectual property and customer data. For a small business, information is everything .A loss of related data can cause a huge dent in their overall functioning.

Who are the possible vested interests and how do they gain from this malpractice?

The cyber mafia is hugely benefited by malpractices giving rise to underground economy. The Symantec Report on the Underground Economy is a detailed look into an online underground economy that has matured into an efficient, global marketplace in which stolen goods and fraud-related services are regularly bought and sold, and where the estimated value of goods offered by individual traders is measured in millions of dollars. Today’s attacks are targeted and carried out in a stealthy manner by cyber criminals with a more insidious motive – financial gain. Since information is the most valuable asset today, malware is created with the intention of stealing confidential data such as credit card details, intellectual property and customer data

SMBs are facing increased risks to their confidential information— including bank account numbers, credit card information and customer and employee records.

Now more than ever, cybercriminals are going after the smaller businesses that do not have the high-level security of their enterprise counterparts.

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