Bangalore: Computers connected to the Internet in Mumbai are a soft target for hackers to attack with viruses and malicious codes.
The latest Internet Security Threat Report, released by security solutions provider, Symantec, ranked Mumbai with the highest number of bot-infected computers in India, accounting for 38 per cent of the total.
Bots are usually malicious programs that are installed on PCs via spam email sent by hackers.
Once installed, the bots perform stipulated tasks which could range from spamming other computers to clogging the network, causing it to crash.
The threat report, supported by data collected between July-December 2006, revealed that 25 per cent of bot-infected computers in India were located in Delhi followed by Bangalore with 15 per cent and Chennai with 10 per cent.
The report also stated that the Indian “threat landscape” is riddled with malcode (malicious codes), wherein 60 per cent of the top malicious codes contained threats to confidential data with 84 per cent of these threats allowing hackers remote access to systems.
When it comes to phishing Web sites, India ranked 14th worldwide. Mumbai accounts for 30 per cent of the total sites hosted, closely followed by Delhi with 29 per cent and Bangalore and Chennai lagging behind with 12 per cent.
In the case of emails originating from the subcontinent, 76 per cent were considered spam, with India ranking 18th in the list of spam producers.
According to Symantec India Managing Director Vishal Dhupar, the current Internet threat environment is characterised by an increase in data theft, data leakage and creation of malicious code to target specific organisations.
“Hackers are refining their methods to create global networks that support coordinated criminal activity online with more bots, phishing, spam and Trojans,” Dhupar said.
“Consumers or enterprises need to ensure proper security measures to prevent an hacker gaining access to their confidential information, causing financial loss and violating privacy,” Dhupar added.
source : http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmp...§id=7&contentid=200705260916022347755f44f
