Ahmedabad: Nearly 30 million people from
India fell victim to cybercrime during the last one year
suffering direct financial loss of USD 4 billion, according to
a study by makers of Norton Internet security, Symantec.
"With the spread of Internet, cybercrime has become more
organised especially in the developing nations of the world,"
Symantec country sales manager in India Gaurav Kanwal told
mediapersons here today.
"In India it is estimated that more than 29.9 million
fell victim to cybercrime last year (2010), suffering direct
financial loss of USD 4 billion (approx Rs 18,000 crore) and
an additional USD 3.6 billion (approx Rs 16,200 crore) in time
spent resolving the crime," Kanwal said stating the Norton
Cybercrime Report 2011.
According to Kanwal, the study was conducted online by
the company across 24 countries in February this year in which
20,000 people participated globally including 600 from
India.
The study further states that the global monetary loss
caused by cyber criminals amounted to USD 388 billion while
431 million adult fell victim to cyber crimes.
Kanwal said the study found that top six countries with
higher number of cyber crime victims were all emerging markets
like China on the top followed by South Africa, Mexico,
Brazil, India and Singapore.
The study further said that in India every four out of
five adults using online services have been victims of cyber
crime. It also identified men in age group 18-31 years as more
likely victims of cyber crime.
The most common type of cyber crime was through attack
of computer viruses and malware, followed by online scams and
phishing, the study stated.
Globally, the direct financial losses from cybercrime
stood at USD 114 billion, while USD 274 billion was the value
of time that victims spent in solving the crimes.
The study further said that there was serious disconnect
in how people view the threat of cybercrime.
The gap between awareness and action is further
illustrated by fact that while 74 per cent of respondents said
that they were aware of cyber crime, many were not taking the
necessary precautions, while 41 per cent of adults said that
they did not have up to date Internet security software to
protect their personal information online.
PTI
