The latest Internet Security Threat Report, released last week by Symantec, indicated that 35 per cent of the spam in the Asia-Pacific region originated in India, pointing to the growing size of the underground industry here.
However, a bigger cause for worry is the report's finding that India is home to the third highest Stuxnet infections, after Iran and Indonesia.
Stuxnet targets sensitive information by exploiting vulnerability in order to infect machines through removable drives. The high infection statistics of Stuxnet in India can be attributed to the large number of computer users in the country relying on removable media for copying data, the report noted.
Indicative of the state of enterprise security in India, the report also finds the presence of older malware such as DownadupB in the country. This points to the lack of basic security software and lax signature updates in Indian enterprises, the report observes.
Further, in the case of mobile devices, the report notes that in 2010, most malware attacks against mobile devices took the form of Trojan Horse programs that pose as legitimate applications. While attackers generated some of this malware from scratch, in many cases, they infected users by inserting malicious logic into existing legitimate applications. The attacker then distributed these tainted applications via public app stores, the report explains.
IEEE standards
The standards association of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a not-for-profit professional group, recently released its latest project titled ‘IEEE P2030 Draft Guide for Smart Grid Interoperability' of energy technology and information technology operations with electric power system and end-use applications and loads, in India.
This is significant because interoperability has been one of the key concerns in building a Smart Grid in India, and the project aims to address this, a press release from the IEEE stated.
The association's India Standards Interest Group believes this will enable faster implementation of Smart Grids. The project will provide a knowledge base for understanding and defining Smart Grid interoperability of the electric power system with end-use applications and loads.
It will involve the integration of energy technology, and information and communications technologies, slated to be among the most important essentials to achieve seamless operation for electric generation, delivery, and end-use benefits.
